Recommendation on safe-injection sites postponed

Thestar.com
October 2, 2018
Kristin Rushowy

The Ontario government will take another month before deciding the fate of safe-injection sites.

On Friday, Health Minister Christine Elliott announced that her ministry needed more time to consult and review the evidence before making her recommendation to Premier Doug Ford.

Ontario has paused plans to open three new temporary overdose-prevention sites as it conducts a review to determine if such facilities will continue to operate in the province. Stations can be seen at an interim injection site in Toronto Public Health's offices at Dundas and Victoria St. in Toronto.

Elliott is being through in her review given the seriousness of the opioid crisis, said Community and Social Services Minister Lisa MacLeod, who spoke to reporters at the legislature on Monday.

“She’s indicated that that will take an extra month to get this right ... we are going to continue to consult on the front line and we’ll make sure that we talk to the experts as well.”

“We are going to lead with our hearts on this one,” MacLeod also said. “And we are going to make sure that we do our due diligence.”

This summer, the Ford government put the opening of a number of sites on hold and announced the review of existing sites, where users can inject drugs while being monitored by medical staff.

A decision had been expected by Sept. 30.

Front-line staff and other medical groups have urged the province to act, saying there is ample evidence such sites save lives.

In the legislature Monday, Elliott said “we want to make sure that if these overdose prevention sites are continued, they serve the purpose of saving lives of course, but getting people into the rehabilitation and treatment that they need, which includes housing and services.”

A vigil at Queen’s Park on Monday included 1,265 crosses planted on the front grounds, representing the people who died in 2017 of drug overdoses.

NDP Leader Andrea Horwath said “the opioid crisis is killing people on a daily basis ... Families coping with the addiction of a loved one know that the overdose prevention sites save lives. They were expecting a decision on proceeding with overdose prevention sites last week, a decision that has now been delayed yet again.”

Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner said he’s “deeply concerned and disturbed by the delay,” noting the site in his Guelph riding is “working, it’s saving people’s lives, it’s making a big difference ... and we want it to be permanent.”