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which local police investigated. The tension in the community continued over crime in the surrounding area around the site. There was a shared letter that stated that there had been “an increase in drug use and property crime” around the now former SCS facility, but neighbours to the former facility claim that is not true. The neighbouring business had put their building up for sale, but pulled it off the market as customer traffic returned following the SCS closure at the end of August 2020.
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Christmas parties, staff retreats, entertainment and gift cards and numerous other inappropriate expenditures. The provincial government asked the
Lethbridge Police Service to investigate whether criminal charges are warranted after the "audit showed gross mismanagement of the funds.". As of December 2020, the
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A local business owner next to ARCHES’ main location said that each morning there were liquor bottles, needles, and condoms along with trash. The business owner installed security cameras on his property, then posted the images to social media. Soon after doing so, he started receiving death threats,
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Lethbridge was one of four places in
Alberta to have a supervised consumption site, which is Health Canada Criminal Code exempt. The supervised consumption site opened in February 2018 and closed in August 2020. This SCS allowed drug users to inject, smoke, snort, or take pills in the facility,
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from
February 2018 until closing in August 2020. ARCHES started in 1986, specifically focused on helping the gay community. Over time, ARCHES became a community-based organization. The SCS it operated was the busiest drug consumption site in North America. It decided to close the site following the
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showed the SCS had $ 1.6 million in unaccounted funds between 2017 and 2018; additionally they had found $ 342,943 had been expended on senior executive compensation, despite the grant agreement allowing only $ 80,000. Beyond this, $ 13,000 in interest income earned on SCS funding was spent on
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In March 2019, the
Alberta government ordered an audit after allegations of financial irregularities at ARCHES. Between October 2017 and February 2020, ARCHES received $ 14.5 million in grant funding from the province, which comprised 70% of their funding. ARCHES closed SCS on August 30, 2020,
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following the provincial government revoking funding after an initial audit found “funding misappropriation, non-compliance with grant agreement inappropriate governance and organizational operations.” An audit of
Lethbridge ARCHES conducted by accounting firm
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Economics Crimes Unit, which located the missing financial records, resulting in no criminal charges. While criminally not charged, funding to the organization remains withheld as some of their spending did not comply with grant agreement.
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withdrawal of government funding after an initial audit found evidence of various misappropriation of funds and lack of accounting for more than a million dollars of its funding. The concerns around unaccounted funds were investigated by
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238:. Despite the missing funds having been recovered, issues such as expenditure on staff retreat, lack of clear policies on conflict-of-interest on hiring and vendor selection remains unresolved, so the
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Supervised consumption sites are unlike overdose prevention sites (OPS), which are temporary facilities and are primarily used in response to urgent public health needs within a community.
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Lethbridge SCS site, operated by Arches, "may be facing the most problems in the province," adding concerns were disproportionately higher than concerns expressed at other sites.
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making it the first of its kind in North
America. Three weeks after its closure, a government agency reported that the city had seen 36% reduction in opioid related calls for
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that the city direct ARCHES to stop distributing needles outside the site and that needles be used only within the facility; the motion was defeated by a 5-4 final count.
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269:, which is a similar size to Lethbridge and is considered to have the busiest SCS in Europe, averages about 150 to 200 visits a day.
799:"On International Overdose Awareness Day, the busiest supervised consumption site in North America closes under a cloud of scandal"
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ARCHES’s main facility, which included the SCS services, averaged 670 visits per day, recently averaging 20,000 visits per month.
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386:"A small Alberta city is home to the busiest drug consumption site in North America. We spent 12 hours inside | The Star"
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343:"Lethbridge Police investigating death threats against local business owner relating to local SCS Facebook post"
544:"MLA Shannon Phillips and others react to ARCHES losing provincial funding after government-ordered audit"
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596:"Lethbridge supervised consumption site loses government funding after audit finds $ 1.6M shortfall"
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622:"Province failed to properly monitor shuttered safe consumption site's spending: auditor general"
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695:"3 weeks after province ends funding for injection site, unsanctioned space opens in Lethbridge"
493:"Government pulls grant funding from Lethbridge safe consumption site citing fund mismanagement"
276:, which ensures policies are followed when in operation, while it is provincially funded.
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762:"Local business owner raising more concerns about Lethbridge's supervised consumption site"
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Impact: A socio-economic review of supervised consumption sites in
Alberta - March 2020
781:"Letter criticizing Lethbridge's ARCHES location sparks controversy among residents"
469:"Lethbridge safe drug consumption site will be a North American 1st, official says"
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825:"Needle distribution will continue: Lethbridge City Council defeats resolution"
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415:"Lethbridge braces for closure of Canada's busiest supervised consumption site"
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520:"UCP pulls funding to Lethbridge supervised consumption site following audit"
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737:"Government review says Lethbridge SCS has 'most problems in the province'"
676:"Lethbridge police officers worried about drug crisis management: survey"
568:"Police conclude ARCHES investigation; records account for $ 1.5 million"
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Lethbridge City
Councillor Blaine Hyggen brought forward a resolution to
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ARCHES (AIDS Outreach
Community Harm Reduction Education Support Society)
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was able to uncover records that accounted for the funding in question.
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The structure of who was in charge of SCSs was federally licensed by
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657:"Debate over supervised consumption sites ramps up across Alberta"
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and the City of
Lethbridge in addition those provided from the
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Grant Expenditure Review For Alberta Health - July 14, 2020
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440:"Missing ARCHES Funding Accounted For: Lethbridge Police"
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CTV News highlighted that a government review reported:
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Lethbridge ARCHES had been receiving funding from the
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172:, known for operating the province-funded Lethbridge
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stood by the decision to pull funding from ARCHES.
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491:Bourne, Kirby; Therien, Eloise (July 16, 2020).
185:ARCHES is an imperfect acronym which stands for
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864:Non-profit organizations based in Alberta
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213:Allegations of financial impropriety
854:LGBTQ organizations based in Canada
693:Labby, Bryan (September 26, 2020).
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246:Supervised Consumption Site (SCSs)
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655:Campbell, Quinn (July 10, 2019).
620:Kaufmann, Bill (March 22, 2022).
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467:Edwardson, Lucie (Jan 26, 2018).
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712:Kalinowski, Tim (May 16, 2019).
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823:Karim, Malika (July 24, 2018).
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594:French, Janet (July 16, 2020).
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341:Fominoff, Lara (July 5, 2019).
869:1986 establishments in Alberta
760:Bala, Jasmine (July 5, 2019).
714:"SCS attracts world attention"
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779:Karim, Malika (May 2, 2019).
413:Labby, Bryan (Aug 31, 2020).
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123:Director of Clinical Services
53:1016 1 Ave S, Lethbridge, AB
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174:Supervised Consumption Site
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735:Vogt, Terry (2020-03-05).
256:emergency medical services
225:Lethbridge Police Service
179:Lethbridge Police Service
151:Lethbridge HIV Connection
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236:Government of Alberta
232:Government of Canada
347:Lethbridge News Now
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446:. 22 December 2020
288:Community Concerns
113:Executive Director
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718:Lethbridge Herald
572:Lethbridge Herald
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785:Global News
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680:Global News
661:Global News
548:Global News
390:thestar.com
297:Controversy
267:Switzerland
170:Hepatitis C
99: /
87:112°49′54″W
75:Coordinates
859:Lethbridge
843:Categories
809:2020-09-29
746:2020-09-27
577:2020-12-22
553:2020-09-26
529:2020-09-27
502:2020-09-26
450:2020-12-22
396:2020-01-22
364:"About Us"
325:References
162:Lethbridge
84:49°41′53″N
65:Lethbridge
45:non-profit
197:ommunity
193:eduction
34:Formation
699:CBC News
633:July 22,
473:CBC News
444:CTV News
220:Deloitte
166:HIV/AIDS
58:Location
741:Calgary
132:Website
600:CBC.CA
419:CBC.CA
158:ARCHES
635:2023
607:2020
426:2020
263:Bern
201:arm
189:IDS
168:and
139:.com
42:Type
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