ARCHES Lethbridge

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, An audit of Lethbridge ARCHES conducted by accounting firm Deloitte 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 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.". Lethbridge ARCHES had been receiving funding from the Government of Canada and the City of Lethbridge in addition those provided from the Government of Alberta. 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 remained problematic, so the UCP Government stood by the decision to pull funding from ARCHES. == Supervised Consumption Site (SCSs) ==

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. Lethbridge was one of four places in Alberta to have a supervised consumption site, which is Health Canada Criminal Code exempt. and closed in August 2020. ARCHES’s main facility, which included the SCS services, averaged 670 visits per day, recently averaging 20,000 visits per month. The structure of who was in charge of SCSs was federally licensed by Health Canada, which ensures policies are followed when in operation, while it is provincially funded. Community Concerns 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, 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. Controversy Lethbridge City Councillor Blaine Hyggen brought forward a resolution to city council 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. == Further reading ==