By Rebel News | Created at 2024-11-19 22:59:23 | Updated at 2024-11-24 13:49:05
4 days ago
The Ford government tabled legislation Monday to shut down drug consumption sites in the province, which the Trudeau government plans to review as it prevents municipalities from seeking a federal exemption.
The Safer Streets, Stronger Communities Act bars consumption sites within 200 metres of schools and childcare centres, with 10 such sites slated for closure in April 2025.
This legislation comes after more than 2,500 Ontario residents, including at least 523 Torontonians, died from fatal overdoses in 2023.
“On a daily basis, in Toronto, [drug users] are going absolutely crazy [near consumption sites]. There’s needles all over the parks, [and] unfortunately, one innocent citizen got killed,” Premier Doug Ford said in August.
Ford's comments refer to 44-year-old mother of two, Karolina Huebner-Makurat, who was fatally shot during gang-related crossfire outside of Toronto's South Riverdale Community Health Centre in broad daylight last summer.
“It’s not good,” Ford said at the time. “I want to help these people,” he added.
Ontario’s legislation mandates that current sites adhere to mandatory reporting measures, as well as safety procedures.
Despite the change, Health Minister Sylvia Jones said Monday she would not approve any new sites.
“As I said, the legislation, if passed, ensures that municipalities and organizations, like public health authorities, must first come to the province because we don’t want them bypassing and getting federal approval for something we vehemently disagree with,” said Jones.
Of the 23 sites in Ontario, there are 17 provincially funded locations. Five are slated for closure in Toronto, while another five remain open, including those that operate without provincial funding.
A Health Canada response to a parliamentary inquiry unveiled the Trudeau government would spend $27 million funding 22 “safe supply” sites this year across British Columbia and Ontario, where the opioid crisis rages on.
The Safer Streets Act will eliminate an apparent “loophole” that has allowed several Ontario sites to stay open without approval from the province.
All sites require an exemption to the federal Controlled Drugs and Substances Act granted by Health Canada.
Yuval Daniel, a spokesperson for Addictions Minister Ya'ara Saks, said the Trudeau government will review Ontario’s legislation in short order. He adds the overdose crisis needs “a solution that protects communities.”
Minister Saks contends harm reduction policies are “saving lives.” Meanwhile, at least 523 Torontonians fatally overdosed on opioids last year, a 74% increase from 301 deaths in 2019, amid the federal government's billion-dollar "safer supply" initiatives.
“It is to help people in a space [where] they [are treated with] dignity in their most vulnerable moments,” she said, suggesting provinces “don’t have” the resources to address addiction and mental health concerns.
Though harm reduction advocates are clamouring against the bill, Premier Ford says they have failed to address the opioid crisis through so-called “safe supply” policies.
“It’s like putting an alcoholic outside the LCBO and telling them not to drink but you get a bottle every single day,” he said. “It doesn’t make sense.”
Doris Grinspun, chief executive of the Registered Nurses Association of Ontario, called the province’s move a “disaster” that is ideologically driven.
“The Ontario government will be responsible for the excess deaths,” Grinspun said in an interview with the Globe and Mail.
Federal data shows there were 42,711 reported opioid-related overdose hospitalizations since January 2016, when “safe supply” became official policy. Drug overdoses, meanwhile, have killed more than 32,000 people over the same period.
In August, Minister Jones announced $378 million to fund 19 treatment (HART) hubs across the province, prioritizing recovery over harm reduction.
There has been a “113% increase in assaults near these sites in Toronto compared to the rest of the city,” she said, with “violent crime up 146% near Ottawa sites, and homicide 450% higher near Hamilton’s urban core.”
The surge in violent crime prompted Ontario to bar consumption sites near places where children frequent.
Minister Saks earlier claimed criticism of the policy is rooted in “stigma and fear.” Her office previously did not cite any data to explain the increase in overdose deaths.
The Trudeau government has committed more than $1 billion to address overdose fatalities since 2017, according to a December 2023 update detailing federal actions. This included more than $359.2 million allocated in Budget 2023 over five years for the renewed Canadian Drugs and Substances Strategy.
Alex Dhaliwal
Calgary Based Journalist
Alex Dhaliwal is a Political Science graduate from the University of Calgary. He has actively written on relevant Canadian issues with several prominent interviews under his belt.
