Approval of Barrie’s supervised consumption site (SCS) continues to be stalled at the crucial provincial level.
Last week, Premier Doug Ford’s government announced it’s planning to develop new safety protocols for drug consumption and treatment sites (CTS), also known as an SCS, due to a shooting outside a Toronto site in July, said Ontario’s associate minister of mental health and addictions.
This means some SCS/CTS applications for new facilities waiting for provincial approval for more than two years — including Barrie’s — will have to continue to wait, said Minister Michael Tibollo.
Barrie’s 11 Innisfil St. location, behind 80 Bradford St., was endorsed by the previous city council in June 2021 and also has federal approval to operate.
But Valerie Grdisa, chief executive officer of the Canadian Mental Health Association's Simcoe County Branch, which is the lead applicant for Barrie’s site, said there has been no response to its application from Queen’s Park.
“The Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit and CMHA Simcoe County Branch had sent multiple communications to the minister of health before the (Toronto) tragedy, requesting a response,” she said, “as we continue to pay rent for the 11 Innisfil St. office – and we have not received any communications regardless of multiple attempts at confirming next steps.”
It is provincial government dollars which must fund operating costs for Barrie’s SCS facility, pay for its staff, equipment and maintenance.
Grdisa said the CMHA understands the need for an investigation to determine if Toronto’s tragedy was related to the SCS presence in that community.
“We welcome any and all information on new safety protocols, but we did have an extensive facility safety plan and a diverse range of mitigation strategies listed,” she said.
Grdisa cited examples such as a crime prevention through environmental design assessment, peer support workers, security guards, facility safety features such as fencing, landscaping and cameras, and the assistance to and from property by volunteers and/or staff.
She says the need for an SCS remains in Barrie.
“Lives continue to be lost to the opioid crisis and/or the opioid-related overdoses continue to overwhelm first-responders and the health and social services providers,” Grdisa said. “We continue to lose clients and members of the community at alarming rates.
“The opioid crisis took 30-plus years to create through greed and corruption by the pharmaceutical industry and prescribers, and it is our collective responsibility as a compassionate society to help individuals ‘where they are at’ and help them get the services that help improve their overall functioning and ultimately, save lives," she added.
Given the provincial approval delay, and that it’s been more than two years since the last council endorsed 11 Innisfil as Barrie’s potential SCS location, BarrieToday also asked Mayor Alex Nuttall if this council should reconsider the matter, debate and decide if Barrie should have an SCS. And if so, where?
The mayor was also asked where he stood on Barrie having an SCS and whether he believes 11 Innisfil is the right location.
“I am currently awaiting the results of the province's comprehensive review of all available data,” he said. “Given its initial approval was made by the previous term of council, I look forward to reviewing the province's findings prior to moving forward.
“I remain committed to working collaboratively with the province to address addiction and addiction services in Barrie and have requested additional financial support for the Rapid Access Addiction Medicine (RAAM) clinic, as part of council’s motion to address chronic homelessness," Nuttall added.
These council measures, which were approved May 17, address drug addiction, mental health, public safety, panhandling, shelter, counselling and feeding the hungry, along with housing the homeless, while committing as much as $825,000 to these measures during each of the next two years.
An SCS/CTS provides a safe space and sterile equipment for individuals to use pre-obtained drugs under the supervision of health-care staff. Consumption means taking opioids and other drugs by injection, smoking, snorting or orally. A Controlled Drugs and Substances Act exemption from Health Canada, meanwhile, allows facility staff the ability to test and handle drugs without any criminal sanctions.
The province has launched a "critical incident review" of South Riverdale Community Health Centre, in east-end Toronto, after a passerby was killed by a stray bullet from a fight that broke out in the area around the site in July.
The province's review will determine what protocols should be in place for all of the province's 17 consumption and treatment sites (CTS/SCS). The province says it does not want to open additional sites until the new protocols are in place.
There are at least five sites with pending applications before the province, including Barrie.
Figures show Barrie had 95 opioid-related deaths in 2017-19, 59 deaths in 2020, 74 in 2021, and 60 in 2022.
These numbers are for the Barrie Canada Census subdivision in Simcoe-Muskoka.
Ontario had 4,260 opioid-related deaths in 2017-19, 2,437 deaths in 2020, 2,849 in 2021, and 2,517 in 2022, according to Census Canada.
— With files by The Trillium, Village Media
