A total of nine out of 17 sites across Ontario will be forced to close. Pictured: Health Minister Sylvia Jones. Photo Credit: Sylvia Jones/X.
The Ontario government recently announced that they will be closing and banning supervised drug consumption sites within 200 metres of schools and child care centres.
That means that Hamilton’s supervised drug consumption site at St. Paul’s Presbyterian Church at the intersection of James Street South and Jackson Street East will be forced to close since it is within 200 metres of the YWCA Hamilton Downtown Child Care Centre.
A total of nine out of 17 sites across Ontario will be forced to close including locations in Ottawa, Guelph, Hamilton, Thunder Bay, Kitchener, and Toronto.
The government will also be introducing legislation this fall to prohibit municipalities or any organization from setting up new consumption sites or participating in any federal drug supply initiatives.
As an alternative, the province will be investing $378 million to set up 19 new Homelessness and Addiction Recovery Treatment Hubs (HART Hubs).
The province says that HART Hubs will be a “system of care that prioritizes community safety, treatment, and recovery.”
They add that HART hubs will “connect people with complex needs to comprehensive treatment and preventative services that could include primary care, mental health services, addiction care and support, social services and employment support, shelter and transition beds, supportive housing, and other supplies and services including naloxone, onsite showers, and food.”
The government is clear that HART Hubs will not offer drug supply, supervised drug consumption or needle exchange programs.
In response to the announcement, Ontario Minister of Health Sylvia Jones said, “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.”
“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,” she added.
The government says that crime near drug consumption sites is “significantly higher compared to surrounding neighbourhoods.”
Near the Hamilton-based site, the province says that reports of violent crime are 195 per cent higher compared to the rest of the city.
The government has also received reports from police across Ontario that hydromorphone, which is distributed by consumption sites, is being diverted and trafficked.
The province also says that there are increased needles in parks and near schools and daycares as a result of the sites.
Those drug consumption sites that are being forced to close will be prioritized to become HART Hubs “and could be eligible, on average, for up to four times more funding under the HART Hubs model than they receive from the province as a consumption site.”
While some mayors, including the mayors of Windsor, Guelph, Barrie, and Brampton, strongly supported the province’s plan, Hamilton Mayor Andrea Horwath appeared to be cautiously optimistic, commenting that HART Hubs “will hopefully help us support the most vulnerable members of our community, save lives, and reduce the crises our cities face.”
Councillor Cameron Kroetsch (Ward 2 – Downtown Hamilton), had a different opinion on the matter, posting on social media that “without [drug consumption sites], people will be forced to use drugs in public, and without a safe supply, more of our neighbours will die.”
Kroetsch later retweeted a post calling the province’s announcement “a murderous act.”
On the other hand, Councillor John-Paul Danko (Ward 8 – West/Central Mountain), called the move “a welcome change,” adding that “Hamilton residents are done with enabling drug use” and that “policies that promote and support illegal drugs have been disastrous for Hamilton neighbourhoods.”
Based in Hamilton, he reaches hundreds of thousands of people monthly on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter. He has been published in The Hamilton Spectator, Stoney Creek News, and Bay Observer. He has also been a segment host with Cable 14 Hamilton. In 2017, he received the Chancellor Full Tuition Scholarship from the University of Ottawa (BA, 2022). He has also received the Governor General’s Academic Medal. He formerly worked in a non-partisan role on Parliament Hill in Ottawa.
