GUELPH – Sitting on the steps of Royal City Mission on Quebec Street, a Fergus man expressed disbelief that the safe consumption site at the nearby Guelph Community Health Centre might close down.
He was sitting among a small group of people, a couple of whom appeared to be using drugs.
He said he doesn’t really use the site – nicknamed the shooting gallery – because he smokes, rather than injects substances, but he added he has gone there to get clean pipes.
“They won’t close it down,” he said.
But the government plans to do just that.
On Aug. 20, the provincial government announced a plan to ban supervised drug consumption sites within 200 metres of schools and child care centres.
The ban will affect nine provincially funded sites, including the one operated by the Guelph Community Health Centre in downtown Guelph, as well as one in Kitchener and one self-funded site.
Guelph’s Consumption and Treatment Services (CTS) site and the nine others are slated to close on March 31.
There are daycares that operate in two downtown Guelph area churches, and from the government’s news release, it’s not clear if one or both might be the deciding factor.
And for those wondering if moving the services to another site might be a way to keep them operating, the short answer seems to be no.
“In order to restrict access to dangerous and illegal drugs moving forward, the government will also introduce legislation this fall that would, if passed, prohibit municipalities or any organization from standing up new consumption sites or participating in federal so-called ‘safer’ supply initiatives,” the government news release stated.
“If passed, the legislation will also prohibit municipalities from requesting the decriminalization of illegal drugs from the federal government.”
“Communities, parents and families across Ontario have made it clear that the presence of consumption sites near schools and daycares is leading to serious safety problems,” Deputy Premier and health minister Sylvia Jones stated in the release.
“We need to do more to protect public safety, especially for young school children, while helping people get the treatment they need, which is why we’re taking the next step to expand access to a broad range of treatment and recovery services, while keeping kids and communities safe.”
As part of the announcement, the province has said it plans to invest $378 million in new “Homelessness and Addiction Recovery Treatment (HART) Hubs.”
The hubs will provide different services.
Guelph’s CTS site offers:
- harm-reduction supplies;
- supervised injection services, where medical and site staff provide oversight to ensure the safety of people using the services;
- foot and wound care, medical assessments and screening for HIV, STIs and hepatitis C;
- support and referrals for addiction treatment, primary care, mental health supports and more; and
- space for quiet activities.
HART Hub services could include primary care, mental health services, addiction care and support, social services and employment support, shelter and transition beds, supportive housing, and availability of things like naloxone and food.
They will not offer safer supply, supervised consumption or needle exchange programs.
The CTS sites that are closing are being encouraged to submit proposals to transition to HART Hubs.
Their proposals “will be prioritized” during the province’s review process, and “could be eligible on average, for up to four times more funding” than they receive from the province as a consumption site.
Guelph Community Health Centre CEO Melissa Kwiatkowski did not respond to a request for an interview, but the centre referred the Advertiser to a statement she posted to its social media accounts.
“This information is new to us and we need some time to understand the full details and its impact on our community before we can comment,” Kwiatkowski said in the statement.
“Our focus right now is on supporting staff and clients.”
She wrote that next steps would involve meeting with the Ministry of Health to develop a transition plan.
“Services we have already been offering in our health hub are well aligned with the ministry’s plan and we feel we are well positioned to submit an application for the hub model with our health partners,” she stated.
But her statement also expressed concerns about the government’s decision.
“We know that the CTS in Guelph saves lives and connects people to vital addictions treatment services, mental health services and primary care services,” she stated.
“We are concerned about the human rights impacts of removing this life-saving service from the community, without providing a comparable alternative.”
Guelph MPP Mike Schreiner released a statement asking the government to change its course of action.
“Make no mistake, Ontario will lose more lives because of this government’s attack on harm reduction services,” he stated.
Schreiner added the province needs both the services offered by the CTS sites and the supportive housing and accessible treatment options the HART Hubs are meant to provide.
The decision to close CTS sites “is going to lead to more drug poisonings, more infectious disease spread and more people with one less pathway to judgement-free social services and addictions recovery treatment,” he stated.
He added his party is calling on the government to “immediately reverse this decision and properly invest in harm reduction.”
