A correlation between income-assistance payment days and calls for emergency responders is something that needs to be addressed collaboratively by the responders and government, according to Powell River RCMP sergeant Kevin Day.
Victoria Police Department chief constable Del Manak recently brought attention to increased pressure placed on emergency responders on welfare cheque day. He suggested distribution should be staggered so everyone on income assistance does not receive their payment on the same day.
Police officers across the province, including Powell River RCMP, witness how income-assistance cheque day results in an increase in the number of calls requiring emergency response.
“There's definitely a relationship between getting the cheques and those with substance-abuse issues and alcohol-related issues coming in contact with the police,” said Day.
Day said there are definitely more cases of overdoses and alcohol-related incidents in and around the time of cheque day, although he said RCMP has not analyzed call volume on cheque day.
“Whether it be through overdoses, violent acts, impaired driving and that sort of thing, there's definitely a correlation,” said Day.
In Powell River, the opioid crisis is alarming, with Vancouver Coastal Health recently announcing the city has the second highest rate of overdose deaths behind Vancouver.
According to a 2016 BC Centre for Disease Control study, overdose deaths are 40 per cent higher during weeks when income and disability cheques are issued.
That same year, the centre called for changes similar to those suggested by Manak; staggering the timing of cheque distribution or issuing smaller cheques with more frequency.
That latter idea raises concerns for Community Resource Centre Powell River executive director Martyn Woolley.
“The reason we're seeing the spike is because the payments only come once a month,” said Woolley. “That's when they're accessing the drug, but if they were accessing that drug on more than one occasion during the month, when they receive two cheques instead of one, then we will see two spikes.”
