It sounds too absurd to be true, but it isn’t. British Columbia’s Island Health Authority has been permitting patients to actively abuse illicit substances at the same facility as elderly and frail long-term care patients.

Just found out through a news article that my own mother is being exposed to meth smoke in her care home. The NDP won't even inform us of this danger. This is what the NDP's lack of oversight has led to. This is unacceptable! Our seniors deserve better. #EndTheNeglect… pic.twitter.com/aKMzcd7gNC

— Mike Harris (@Mike4Langford) August 27, 2024

In 2022, Island Health created “special population units (SPU)” inside the Summit long-term care home in Victoria and Dufferin Place nursing home in Nanaimo for full-time residents with complex and disruptive behaviours, including active addiction.

While B.C. Minister of Health Adrian Dix says the units increase “not just safety but a sense of safety” within the facilities, Langford-Highlands MLA candidate with the Conservative Party of BC, Mike Harris, whose elderly mother resides at the Summit, tells Rebel News the units are not good enough.

“It’s not a pod. They are in the general population of the whole hospital. When you walk through the doors, they are outside, plus they are inside, they are in the hallways,” described Harris.

After the Times Colonist published an article detailing how others at the Summit also share concerns about the SPUs, Harris, who normally enters the facility via the underground parking lot, went to his mother’s care home to investigate himself.

Then, when Harris, who says he was never consulted or informed about the SPUs, posted a video about what he saw on X, he received a letter from Island Health. This claimed the government authority is “working hard to address any concerns and will increase security presence around the clock” and is planning to adjust its care model to “better meet the complex needs of our SPU residents.”

Harris says the root of the problem is the lack of transparency and focus on suitable recovery options for those struggling with addictions — both issues Harris claims the Conservative Party of B.C. will adequately address if they form government this October.