I have never been inside a safe injection site (I have no need) but regularly pass by one such place in my neighborhood. I do, however, see the signs everywhere because the activity that goes on inside these facilities spills out onto the street.

   Discarded needles along sidewalks and city parks are, at times, as obvious as dog shit and encampment tents.

   This city has long had an illegal drug problem. I hesitate to call it a crisis as it is only one plank in the many issues of poverty, homelessness, and crime that we live with in the reality of Toronto. It is more than it is, and too much for this city council to handle.

   A recent announcement by our provincial government has, again, brought the existence of safe injection sites to the top of concerns discussed and debated. The Tories intend to close more than half of the 17 existing locations in this province in short order. They, instead, have a multi-million-dollar concept to better care for the addicted and afflicted.

   The government have been working on this plan after a review of safe injection sites sparked by the shooting death of a young mother last summer. The woman, walking home with groceries on a sunny afternoon, was caught in the middle of a shootout between rival drug dealers who operate near one of these “safe” sites.

   This provincial government has long avoided dealing with the drug crisis. There has been talk of, for some time (but no action), increasing rehabilitation centers to help people get off the drugs they rely on. Through the years both overdoses and fatalities increased exponentially.

   The Ford government’s announcement, it says, is designed to stop all that.

   Problem is, this is a Conservative government who cannot keep emergency rooms open, sustain a necessary number of hospital beds, and have not provided either enough mental health supports or rehabilitation facilities, nor shelter beds or social housing. 

   So, all these planned closures in favour of proposed HART HUBS — ‘Homeless and Addiction Recovery Treatment’ —  is so suspect. There are currently no options in place so the closure of these existing facilities by next spring will result in more overdoses, more deaths, and increased pressure on an already overtaxed emergency services system. Ambulances and paramedics are now run ragged.

   It is a problem with costly solutions we are still not sure will work.

   The city is unsafe in so many ways — gun violence, poor planning and traffic congestion leading to increased deaths of cyclists and pedestrians — and now this.

   City council is financially unable to deal with what is before us due to both the financial mismanagement of the past and its current need or desire to spend much-needed capital on attracting events like FIFA soccer in a few years. There is a focus on bringing visitors here, instead of caring for those who call this place home. 

   Some city councilors are paying more attention to the issues than they ever have before; some are grandstanding you might say (I do), but the action is mainly (and rightfully) criticizing other levels of government rather than doing what is needed.

   Yes, it is a multi-level issue requiring a multi-pronged approach, but nobody is dealing with any of these issues deeply enough or quickly enough. 

   And, so far, death on the street is the final and finite result. We need action, not simply reaction.

© 2024 j.g. lewis