Rick Edwards is not giving up his quest to continue helping recovering drug addicts and alcoholics find the path to complete abstinence.
He intends to fight Prince George city council’s decision on Monday to force him to stop using his suburban College Heights home as a treatment centre to keep those addictions in check.
And he has backing from Mayor Simon Yu and former RCMP officer Gary Godwin, CEO of DART (Drug Awareness Recovery Team), an organization that puts recovering addicts to work as full-time gardeners and labourers.
Edwards, the executive director of Integrity Recovery Society, said city council was misled by city staff when it voted 7-2 to deny his application for a three-year temporary use permit (TUP) to provide substance use recovery services to men living with him and his family at 7973 Rochester Crescent.
Contrary to what was reported to council by Deanna Wasnik, the city’s director of planning and development, Edwards claims that, without a TUP, he has not been formally operating a treatment centre from his residence for the past four years. He argues that council should have considered this before making its decision.
“I haven’t been in operation. I have possession of the residence and two individuals living here, but there have been no treatment counsellors or programs because I don’t have a TUP,” said Edwards.
“I have been helping and supporting clients and achieving success, but it’s been on my own time and at my own expense. The purpose of getting the TUP is to establish a formal program, bring on counsellors and facilitators, and secure funding so I no longer have to bear the cost myself and maybe even receive a paycheque.”
Edwards applied for a business licence in August 2023 to operate Integrity Recovery Society and said he was following the advice of city planner Keone Gourlay, who suggested he apply for a TUP before seeking rezoning of the property.
“The city’s planning department didn’t know how to rezone it or what to rezone it to. My only advice was to contact Vancouver because they do it all the time,” said Edwards. “They didn’t know how to licence or rezone the place, and their recommendation was to get a TUP.”
Integrity Recovery Society is registered as a not-for-profit under the Societies Act, and Edwards intends to list his organization with the province’s Assisted Living Registry (ALR). However, he needs an operating permit and licence to do so.
In his letter to the mayor and council, Edwards stated that Integrity’s future depends on receiving the permit and that he would be forced to dissolve the organization without it. He submitted his application to the city 13 months ago alongside his business licence application. Edwards said the ALR has provided guidance to city staff on how to help him establish his treatment centre, but no assistance was provided.
On Wednesday, less than a day after city staff told him in the council meeting that he had six months to find a solution, Edwards received a letter from the city stating he has until Sept. 25 to inform Gourlay when he will comply with the order to cease offering supportive housing.
“To be honest, I feel railroaded,” Edwards said. “I feel lost and unsupported. I’m back to square one with my vision of opening services in Prince George.”
Mayor Yu said he and council would be open to revisiting the Integrity decision if new information shows that Edwards has not been formally operating as a treatment centre for the past four years, which affected his chance to obtain the permit on Monday. Yu said Edwards could apply to make a public presentation at the next council meeting to speak directly to council.
“I want to help him out,” Yu said. “All he needs to do is come to city hall, and if Gary Godwin is presenting on his behalf, I will personally guarantee we can reverse the decision.”
Councillors Tim Bennett and Trudy Klassen were the two who voted in favour of Edwards’ application.
“Right now, the information we had led to that decision,” Yu said. “There is a way to reverse it. Gary Godwin is a key figure because he is a respected former RCMP spokesperson, and if he supports it, I don’t think anyone will oppose him.”
Yu added that Edwards should have approached him and the councillors before the meeting to ensure they had all the details of his application before the vote.
“If the information is incorrect, Edwards should start with a quick memo to us, and we’re open to anything,” Yu said. “If new information comes in, we will address it.”
Edwards has supplied DART with clean and sober workers for the past two years, and Godwin knows Integrity’s treatment methods are effective. Godwin said he will definitely sit with Edwards in front of council to communicate the details of what Edwards plans to offer through his residential program whenever a public hearing can be scheduled. The next regular council meeting is set for Monday, Oct. 7.
“These workers are clean and in full abstinence from drugs and alcohol, and we need those kinds of workers,” Godwin said. “We only hire individuals who are in recovery.”
“It was Bob Scott’s vision that abstinence is the only effective approach for addicts and alcoholics, and Rick’s recovery society aligns perfectly with that. We’ve been hiring his people for the last two years, and they are excellent workers. People in recovery want to re-enter society and contribute positively.”
Godwin added that the workers from Integrity are not relapsing.
Integrity requires clients to maintain complete abstinence, which makes it unique. No other substance treatment centre in northern B.C. has this requirement. Integrity is not eligible for provincial funding because it does not allow its clients to use any drugs on site, including prescribed harm reduction drugs.
Zoned as RS2, Edwards could legally operate Integrity at his Rochester Crescent address without rezoning if it became a community care facility under the Community Care and Assisted Living Act, which permits residential care for up to six unrelated people.
“To pursue that route, I would need to partner with Northern Health and become a harm reduction facility,” Edwards said. “I will not support a program where clients are encouraged to take drugs. It’s unreasonable. Supporting a harm reduction individual involves continuous medication and monitoring, with no clear end point.”
“It’s costly to support someone in harm reduction indefinitely. In contrast, supporting someone in complete abstinence costs nothing after they complete the program and join Narcotics Anonymous or Alcoholics Anonymous, which is self-supporting. It provides a quality of life worth living.”
Edwards, a former heroin addict who spent time in prison, also has six Integrity clients in the third stage of recovery living at a downtown residence provided by Royal LePage. In the four years he has lived in Prince George, he has hosted dozens of recovering addicts, many recently released from jail. He charges $875 per month in rent for each client and estimates he has spent $100,000 of his own money keeping them housed. Each client has house duties, and through his connection with DART, he finds them full-time jobs.
The city received 38 letters from residents, 34 of which requested that the city deny Integrity’s application to operate as a treatment centre, citing complaints of RCMP visits to Clarity House on Rochester Crescent and another College Heights residence on Lemoyne Avenue where Edwards housed six other men recovering from addictions. He closed the Lemoyne Avenue residence in April due to financial constraints.
Edwards disputes any claims of police complaints involving disturbances at Integrity’s houses. He said police officers often visit his residence to discuss public safety issues or clients' court appearances.
“The success of these individuals is due to my direction and support. I live with them and guide them, and it’s working,” he said. “We’ve worked with hundreds of clients, and 50 per cent are still successful and clean today.”
