Darcy Oake refutes criticism of proposed drug treatment centre named after brother
Winnipeg magician Darcy Oake denies his family received any "backroom deal" in their efforts to convert the old Vimy Arena in St. James into a long-term drug rehabilitation facility.
Oake posted a video to Facebook in an effort to "clear up any misconceptions" people might have about the proposed Bruce Oake Recovery Centre, which is named after his brother, who died of an opiate overdose.
"There would be no benefit in achieving this via a backroom deal," Darcy Oake said in the video.
"A treatment centre like this succeeds based on the support of the community. So shoehorning it into a community that doesn't want it, it just wouldn't work," he said.
The reference to a "backroom deal" is in response to St. Charles Coun. Shawn Dobson, who accused Winnipeg Mayor Brian Bowman of skirting the normal process and working with the province to hand the property over to the Bruce Oake Foundation, which was started by Oake's parents — Anne Oake and veteran sportscaster Scott Oake.
Winnipeg city council needs to vote on whether to transfer the property to the provincial government, which could then hand it over to the foundation. A vote is expected to come before council in December.
In an interview Thursday, Dobson said he supports the idea of opening a long-term treatment facility in Winnipeg, but doesn't think the centre fits with the neighbourhood.
He also says he doesn't blame the Oake family and that any problems with the proposal originated with the city.
"For us to give the property to the province and have the province give it to the Scott Oake foundation is kind of backwards. If we were going to give it to them, why didn't we just give it to them directly? Why did we have to go around the corner like that?"
Dobson said he thinks there should have been an expression of interest from the city for the Vimy Arena site, which would have opened up proposals from a variety of groups.
In the Facebook video, Darcy Oake disputed the concern that a drug treatment facility would bring crime to the neighbourhood.
"These are people who willingly checked themselves in because they want to get better. This isn't bad people trying to get good, this is good people trying to get well."
Dobson said he can't say whether the centre would have a positive or negative impact on the community. "The biggest issue here is what fits best in the neighbourhood," he said.
Coun. Matt Allard released a statement Wednesday saying Dobson had misled people in his community about the centre, which Dobson denied.
"They kept me out of the loop on this whole process. This has been going on for months, but I wasn't aware of it. I don't believe I've misled anybody," Dobson said.
"I think it was a deliberate circumvention to not have public consultations prior to them getting the land. As far as I'm concerned, public consultations should come first, before we do anything major like this."
