Calgary neighbourhood’s protest scuttles methadone clinic—not just there, but everywhere
Opposition to the Second Chance Recovery centre, a methadone clinic in Calgary’s Braeside neighbourhood, has closed its doors for good in the wake of protracted opposition from locals, leaving hundreds of opiate abusers without a program. Indeed, the opposition has driven Second Chance from Calgary entirely, with the centre announcing it will not reopen anywhere. Staff at the clinic have reportedly received threats from residents worried that drug addicts will come into contact with their children. “I understand these people need a place to go,” one parent told the CBC. “I’m sorry, but I think this type of person comes from downtown, do they not? Isn’t that where most of them are from? Why wouldn’t you put the clinic down there where they are?” The clinic’s lawyer said the decision to close the clinic came in part because of a raucous public meeting that drew 500 locals. “The city of Calgary is absolutely hostile … as a Calgarian, it’s embarrassing,” he tells the Calgary Sun.