A community group that runs a supervised consumption site has filed a court challenge of the bill that's set to force it to close next year.
The Neighbourhood Group Community Services operates the Kensington Market Overdose Prevention Site, one of 10 supervised consumption sites targeted for closure by the Community Care and Recovery Act, which prohibits the sites from operating within 200 metres of schools and daycares.
They argue that the legislation violates Charter rights, the right to life, liberty and security of the person, to be free from cruel and unusual punishment and to be free from discrimination. They also argue that it is "otherwise unconstitutional because it encroaches on Canada’s exclusive jurisdiction over criminal law," the group said in a press release, referring to the federal government.
Drug users' right to life is infringed upon because they will "face a dramatically increased risk of death by overdose," the group argues. Their right to liberty is engaged because they will face a higher likelihood of being arrested outside of the sites where they are protected from charges for drug possession.
They make a similar argument that the increased likelihood of death and disease amounts to cruel and unusual punishment.
Finally, they argue that people with a substance use disability are discriminated against.
"Denying them real and meaningful access to these services will exacerbate real disadvantages that individuals from this group already suffer from," the group said in a press release. "Most service users are marginalized and disadvantaged. These disadvantages are even more pronounced for service users who also identify as women or who are Indigenous or are otherwise racialized. Denying these individuals access to these services will only make it harder for them to get the health services they desperately need for no reason other than the fact that they suffer from a disability that the Government of Ontario has targeted."
Two people who use supervised consumption sites are part of the court challenge.
“The closure of the sites will undoubtedly result in a significant loss of life,” said Katie Resendes, one of the applicants in the lawsuit, in a press release. “Those of us that use the sites do not have a death wish as some may think. Please be aware of the devastation that will occur when those who rely on the sites are unable to access them.”
Their case cites a 2011 Supreme Court of Canada decision that found that the federal government's refusal to renew an exemption from drug laws for a Vancouver site violated the Charter.
The application accuses Ontario of knowingly increasing the likelihood of death and grievous bodily injury for Ontarians.
"The effects of (the legislation) are grossly disproportionate, degrading and dehumanizing, and offend basic conceptions of human dignity," the notice of application argues.
Solicitor General Michael Kerzner was asked about the application Thursday but said he could not comment on anything before the courts.
—With files from Alan S. Hale
