WINDS OF CHANGEWINDS OF CHANGE

A Pemberton / Mount Currie A Pemberton / Mount Currie

Drug and AlcoholDrug and Alcohol

Task Force ReportTask Force Report

AGENDAAGENDA

• Mount Currie and Pemberton – A Community Snapshot

• Valley Background

• Call to Action

• Our Approach and Methodology

• Our Vision

• Our Recommended Tactics

• Next Steps

• Lessons Learned

A Community Snapshot - PopulationA Community Snapshot - Population

• Pemberton and Mount Currie have experienced a “population explosion” since 1996

• The following table summarizes the growth:

1996 2001 2003 2004 % Chg

Mount Currie 1267 1428 1633 1854 146%

Pemberton 857 1637 1997 2117 233%

Community Snapshot - ProfileCommunity Snapshot - Profile

• Mount Currie Band

– Is a First Nation – known as the Lil’wat Nation with a reserve land base of 6000 acres. The development of the Lil’wat Nations economic base continues.

- Key infrastructure includes:

• A Community School (K-12)

• An Adult Education Center

• A Health Center (but no acute care services) and Daycare Center

• Tribal Police

• Pemberton

– Is a medium sized Village

– Historically was a logging and agricultural community

– Is now adding tourism as a key industry

– Key infrastructure includes:

• 1 high school and 1 elementary school

• Diagnostic & treatment centre

• airport

• RCMP

Valley BackgroundValley Background

• Pemberton and Mount Currie are two neighboring communities located about 30 minutes north of Whistler

• Historically, there have been many diverse challenges to working together, including:– Different jurisdictional frameworks (the Municipality of

Pemberton and the First Nation council of Mount Currie)– Cultural differences – A lack of understanding the differences of the communities, and

using these differences to work against each other

• The 6km difference between the communities does not truly reflect the “distance”

A Community Snapshot – The ProblemA Community Snapshot – The Problem

• Parents and youth in both communities perceive that the most used substances are alcohol and marijuana

• To a much lesser extent, there is also use of cocaine/crack

• There is a high degree of tolerance for alcohol and marijuana use

• Alcohol and marijuana are easy to obtain (other drugs are more difficult, but not impossible)

• Alcohol and drug services are very limitedSource – Focus Groups & One on One interviews

The Call to ActionThe Call to Action

• Things changed in May 2002

• The tragic death of a Mount Currie youth caused both Pemberton and Mount Currie residents to put pressure on their elected officials

• WE decided it was time to do something serious about the drug and alcohol issues of our joint communities

• WE could no longer use our differences to work against each other; WE needed to trust, understand, and work with each other to develop strategies and plans to reshape our future

The Call to ActionThe Call to Action

• The Mount Currie Band Council and the Village of Pemberton Council formed a Joint Task Force with the goal of increasing the safety of our communities by reducing harm associated with drugs and alcohol

• The Task Force established an 8 week project timeline

• We quickly learned that WE DID NOT KNOW WHAT WE DIDN”T KNOW

• And so, we looked for support from the Kaiser Foundation and the Centre for Addictions Research of BC

• 8 months later, solutions were starting to be identified and implementation planning initiated

Our Approach and MethodologyOur Approach and Methodology

The Task Force adopted a four phase methodologyPhase One – Understanding the Community

• Understanding the social, cultural and economic factors that shape our community

• Understand the patterns of risky substance use and associated harms• Understand some of the key baseline data

Phase Two – Strategy Development• Development of a Strategic Vision• Developing recommendations, establishing priorities, developing tactical

action plans

Phase Three – Action• Executing tactical implementation plans

Phase Four – Evaluation• Conducting Post Implementation Reviews and evaluating results

Our VisionOur Vision

We are neighbours, friends and relatives We are neighbours, friends and relatives working together to reduce the harmful effects working together to reduce the harmful effects of drugs and alcohol on our communities. We of drugs and alcohol on our communities. We respect our differences and find strength in the respect our differences and find strength in the

common goal of a healthy and safe common goal of a healthy and safe environment for our children and familiesenvironment for our children and families

Task Force RecommendationsTask Force RecommendationsThe Task Force developed the following 4 categories of recommendations – the categories representing

THE WINDS OF CHANGE:

1. The North Wind – Promoting Healthy Lifestyle Choices

2. The South Wind – Increasing Awareness

3. The East Wind – Improving Services

4. The West Wind – Community Leadership and Responsibility

Recommendations – North WindRecommendations – North Wind

Promoting Healthy Lifestyle Choices1. Conduct a joint community wellness campaign

2. Solicit community group support to sponsor events promoting healthy activities

3. Maximize development of recreational and leisure infrastructure

Recommendations – South WindRecommendations – South Wind

Increasing Awareness4. Conduct a joint public awareness program promoting

personal knowledge and good social policy

5. Coordinate multi-partner regulation and enforcement teams to address problems related to the sale and consumption of tobacco and alcohol

6. Produce and publicize an easily accessible alcohol and drug resource directory

Recommendations – East WindRecommendations – East Wind

Improving Services7. Encourage Vancouver Coastal Health Authority to provide

increased services in the Valley

8. Ensure that increased public transit between communities remains a priority

9. Create a Community Coalition to develop and operate a Sobering Centre that is available 7 by 24 and that is separate from a jail cell

10. Encourage community agencies to develop broad services that address harms from substance use

Recommendations – West WindRecommendations – West Wind

Community Leadership and Responsibility11. Ensure visible and effective leadership support and

commitment to this program

12. Complete a review of all existing regulations related to tobacco and alcohol and assess opportunities for the application and enforcement of existing or new regulations and guidelines

13. Ensure both the Mount Currie and Pemberton Councils continue to promote ways to reduce social tensions and to encourage positive relationships

Next StepsNext Steps

• Transition the Task Force Strategy and Recommendations to the HEALTHY COMMUNITIES COMMITTEE for further implementation planning and for action

• Review the “baseline data” to identify what will be useful for the ongoing monitoring and evaluation

• Initiate further implementation work

Lessons LearnedLessons Learned

We have categorized our learnings into 2 categories:

1. What would we do the same; and

2. What would we do differently;

Lessons LearnedLessons Learned-- What Would We Do the Same-- What Would We Do the Same

Engaging and maintaining community involvement

Effective media promotion and support

A planned transition to the Healthy Community Committee

Visible commitment and support of community leaders

An emphasis on WE and not US AND THEM

Using community focus groups to provide input, and also to break down barriers

Understand that this is a process and not an event

Effective use of external expertise with ongoing community ownership

A focus on “doing” using what we have versus delaying because of what we don’t have

Lessons LearnedLessons LearnedWhat Would We Do DifferentlyWhat Would We Do Differently

An up front focus on managing expectations;

Develop a plan to deal with the pressure to “take action”

Establish a more realistic timeline up front

Try and ensure continuity of the people involved

Define success measures up front

Be proactive instead of reactive

QuestionsQuestions