Ontario's Tables have introduced a bill to ban some controlled consumption sites

Ontario introduced a bill on Monday that aims to close 10 supervised consumption sites that the government says are too close to schools and daycares.

If passed by Premier Doug Ford's Progressive Conservative majority government, the bill would also require municipalities to get the health minister's approval to apply for an exemption from the federal government to establish new, supervised consumption locations to launch.

Health Minister Sylvia Jones said there is no situation where she would approve a new one anywhere in the province.

“I want to be very clear: there will be no more safe injection sites in the province of Ontario under our government,” Jones said at a news conference about the bill.

Previously, municipalities could apply directly to the federal government for approval of consumption locations and the province would be out of the picture.

Ontario is shifting from harm reduction to an abstinence-based model and plans to launch 19 new “homelessness and addiction recovery treatment centres” – or HART hubs, as the province calls them – plus 375 highly supportive housing units at a planned cost of $378 million.

They will be operational at the end of March, when the 10 monitored consumption locations will close. Operation of these locations will not be expanded even though the new hubs are not yet ready, Jones said.

The government's deadline to apply for one of the newly established homeless shelters passed in mid-October, and Jones said officials are now reviewing applications.

“A year from now you will see HART hubs operational across the province of Ontario, a total of 19 demonstration sites,” Jones said.

“We will be able to assess the efficacy and ability of those HART models to actually deliver the services out of addiction and into treatment pathways.”

The province will make it illegal to operate a consumption location within a radius of 200 meters from a school or daycare center. A total of 17 consumption and treatment service locations in Ontario are funded by the province. Seven will be allowed to remain open, but one location in downtown Toronto will likely close this spring as the lease on the space expires and the building will be redeveloped.

Advocates say closures will lead to more deaths

Health care workers, advocates and the homeless have all said closing consumption sites would lead to more deaths. In August, Jones disagreed, saying no one will die as a result of the closures.

On Monday, harm reduction advocates at Queen's Park again expressed their anger about the upcoming closures.

“We will see an overrepresentation of Indigenous people paying the price,” said Mskwaasin Agnew, a member of Toronto Indigenous Harm Reduction.

Agnew said the Ontario Ministry of Health has asked non-Indigenous community health centers to include “culturally informed” care for Indigenous people in their HART hubs, but there has been no consultation with Indigenous communities about the hubs and the care that they will provide.

“Harm reduction is sacred and it is integral to the health and well-being of the lives of many Indigenous peoples. We remind this government of the promises made to the First Nations people of this country. I demand that you fulfill your responsibilities,” Agnew said.

Zoe Dodd, a member of the Toronto Overdose Prevention Society, said she has seen many deaths in her life.

“We've seen people dying outside, overdosing in the bathroom, overdosing on the street and that's exactly what's going to happen when these locations close,” Dodd said.

Dodd said the government knows people will die as a result of these closures. She said supervised consumption sites save lives.

“Every community in this province better have an emergency plan in place because people are going to overdose and die outside,” Dodd added.

“There will be no funding for overdose prevention. There will be no funding for the outside cleaning services for needle collection. That will all go away with this funding. And I don't think people who are against supervised consumption sites are saying that they “Because they're concerned about the safety of their children, they've really thought about what it will look like when people are outside in parks.”

Thursday's bill would also require municipalities to get provincial approval to participate in the federal Safer Supply program, under which doctors prescribe pharmaceutical-grade opioids to people with substance use disorders.

The measures are part of an omnibus community safety bill that would also implement several other recent announcements.

The legislation would significantly increase penalties for those convicted of using a fake vehicle identification number and ban name changes for those on the provincial sex offender registry.

Four provincially funded consumption locations that will close in Toronto are as follows:

• Parkdale Queen West Community Health Center – 168 Bathurst St.
• Regent Park Community Health Center – 465 Dundas St. E.
• South Riverdale Community Health Center – 955 Queen St. E.
• Toronto Public Health – 277 Victoria St.

A fifth self-funded controlled consumption site will also close:

• Kensington Market Overdose Prevention Site – 260 Augusta Ave.