The Ford government has tabled omnibus legislation that will ban supervised consumption sites near schools or child care centres and force municipalities to ask the province for permission to approach the federal government for the same services.
On Monday, the government tabled the Safer Streets, Stronger Communities Act, which codifies a ban on supervised consumption sites as part of a broader bill introducing changes related to auto theft and sex offenders.
The bill will close 10 supervised consumption sites in Ontario, including five in Toronto.
It will also require municipalities to seek permission from the province if they want to participate in federal programs, including an exception to the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act that allows towns or cities to operate supervised consumption sites.
While the legislation allows Ontario to greenlight municipal requests to the feds to open supervised consumption sites through that mechanism, Minister of Health Sylvia Jones said she didn’t plan to approve the requests.
“Municipalities and organizations like public health units have to first come to the province because we don’t want them bypassing and getting any federal approval for something that we vehemently disagree,” Jones said.
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The measure means that the provincial government can now involve itself in an area where it was previously sidelined. Instead of a city going straight to the federal government, the new law would mean cities have to ask the province for permission, thereby involving the province in a process that was previously out of its scope.
Asked what criteria cities would need to meet to be allowed to apply for the federal exemption, the health minister said no new sites would open.
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“I want to be very clear: there will be no further safe injection sites in the province of Ontario under our government,” she said.
As part of its plan to ban supervised consumption sites and close 10 of those operating in Ontario, the province has announced the creation of 19 intensive addiction recovery facilities, named HART Hubs.
A $378-million budget has been allocated to create the new spaces, which will combine addiction recovery with highly supportive housing units. The program should lead to 375 “highly supportive” housing units as part of the hub model.
More than 80 non-profit groups have indicated interest in running 10 of the 19 hubs, according to government figures.
The government will force supervised sites to close by March 31, 2025. It plans to have its HART Hubs up and running by that point to allow for a smooth transition. However, Jones said Monday that supervised consumption sites would not be allowed to stay open longer if the hub openings were delayed.
“We are assessing the proposals right now and we fully intend to have the approvals in place in time,” she said.
The application package for groups interested in opening HART Hubs specified that preference would be given to those that already had existing relationships with housing and addiction services to ensure a swift opening.
It also said hubs are set to receive a budget of $6.3 million per year, with $1.3 million per year provided specifically for supportive housing. Another $1.8 million will be made available for one-time startup costs — with the Hart Hubs project currently funded over four years.
“In a year from now, you will see HART hubs operationalized in the province of Ontario, 19 demonstration sites in total,” Jones said.
“We will be able to assess the efficacy, the ability for those HART models to actually provide the services out of addiction and into treatment pathways.”
— with files from The Canadian Press