When Health Minister Sylvia Jones announced the shutdown of consumption and treatment services (CTS) sites, to be replaced with drug-use-free hubs, local leaders across Ontario welcomed the new funding.
While experts have said the shutdown of safe consumption sites will cost lives, mayors who will have to have their applications approved by the Ford government for a slice of the funding have been less willing to critique the change.
None, however, said they were consulted about the new policy.
Timmins Mayor Michelle Boileau said she was already working on an application for a wellness centre for her region that would be similar to the HART hub model, following hints from the associate minister of mental health and addictions. She had planned to pitch it at the municipal conference where the new strategy was announced.
“This is something that we have been in ongoing discussions with Minister (Michael) Tibollo over the past year or so,” said Boileau, who is also the Cochrane District Social Services Administration Board chair, adding that those talks were “less formal.”
Working with the Canadian Mental Health Association, local hospitals, First Nations and others, the wellness centre would aim to bring mental health services, addiction and withdrawal management, residential treatment beds, supportive and transitional housing, and counseling under one roof.
Northern Ontario, which spans an area larger than France and Italy combined, has a dearth of treatment programs.
Someone in Timmins looking for help to get clean would have to travel 100 km to Smooth Rock Falls for a detox bed. Then they’d have to go back to Timmins for residential treatment, Boileau said.
“But then, if they wanted to do a residential aftercare program, more of a transitional program, they'd have to travel as far as Sault Ste. Marie,” over 400 km away, “and then travel back to Timmins to reconnect with their network.”
There are no day/evening programs in Timmins, forcing those seeking treatment to leave their jobs and support networks, she said.
The "treatment journey" of someone in the city could be 1,500km, she said.
While Timmins will have a massive head start on its HART hub application, Jones’ announcement was “bittersweet,” Boileau said. At AMO, she said it’s been “heartbreaking” to see people walk up to the recently closed CTS site that her office overlooks.
Hamilton Mayor Andrea Horwath said the evidence shows CTS sites save lives, but said she was hopeful about the new model.
“Having the government indicate that they understand that they need to step up was important,” said Horwath, who promised to expand safe consumption sites as the leader of the NDP. “And I can say that if that hub model is robustly funded and it's quickly implemented, it could help us save lives.”
Horwath said Tuesday’s announcement was her first time hearing of HART hubs.
Burlington Mayor Marianne Meed Ward, who is also the chair of the Ontario Big City Mayors, said the caucus doesn’t have a formal position on CTS sites, and that she’ll work with the Region of Halton to decide whether to apply for a HART hub.
“But think of the red tape involved here. We have to spend time not solving the crisis but filling out an application form,” she said, tying it to mayors’ campaign to get the province to show more leadership on homelessness. “And bureaucrats at the various ministries need to spend time also not solving the crisis but reviewing the application forms, picking the winners, picking the losers. It's a little like the Hunger Games of funding programs.”
OBCM wasn’t consulted on the announcement, Meed Ward said.
Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow was pleased with the new funding but a spokesperson said she's concerned about "significant consequences, such as increased overdose deaths, greater strain on first responders and emergency rooms, and more public drug consumption.
"Any change to evidence-based harm reduction programs should be made in consultation with Toronto Public Health," press secretary Arianne Robinson said in a statement.
In Guelph, Mayor Cam Guthrie has said he's not a fan of having a CTS site downtown, though he believes in the model. He welcomed Jones' announcement.
"In regards to today’s announcement of the downtown Guelph safe injection site closure, I commend the provincial government for moving forward with a detailed plan to save lives, restore families and improve communities struggling with the stranglehold of addictions," he said in a statement, adding that he's "confident" the HART hub model will work.
