Toronto crowd rallies to fight closure of supervised drug consumption sites

At least 100 people gathered outside the Kensington Market supervised consumption site in a rally to keep it open in the face of new provincial rules that would shut at least a dozen such sites down across Ontario.

Holding signs that said, “Life inside or death outside” and “Save the site, save lives,” protesters called for a reversal of the policy, which they believed would stop the work of the self-funded Kensington Market Overdose Prevention Site and leave people with an addiction at the mercy of the toxic illicit drug market.

“This year alone, we reversed 50 overdoses, and saved 50 lives,” said the CEO of the group that runs the site, The Neighbourhood Group Community Services.

“We don’t know what will happen to people when we don’t have health care and services for people. We’re afraid people will be using in the street, in the parks, in the laneways and more people will die. We can prevent that,” he said.

Last month, the provincial government announced a ban on the operation of supervised consumption sites within 200 meters of a school or childcare centre.

It was in response to a shooting outside the South Riverdale Community Health Centre, which killed passerby Karolina Huebner-Makurat, a mother of three, with a stray bullet.

Instead, the government will put $387 million to create treatment hubs. Existing sites cannot move and reopen.

That was counter to the recommendations of two reviews that recommended changes to the operation of the centre and called for harm reduction services to be expanded.

The rules will shutter four government-funded sites in Toronto, five outside Toronto, two sites within homeless shelters, and one self-funded site in Kensington Market.

Map shows the locations of supervised drug consumption sites in Toronto. (CTV News Toronto)

The child care centre that included The Neighbourhood Group within the provincial criteria was its own centre, operated across an alley from the supervised consumption site and facing a different street.

In a statement, a health ministry spokesperson said, “Communities, parents and families across Ontario have made it clear that the presence of drug consumption sites near schools and daycares is leading to serious safety problems. We agree. That’s why our government is taking action to keep communities safe while supporting the recovery of those struggling with opioid addiction.”

NDP MPP Jessica Bell, who attended the rally, said in an interview that there could be catastrophic consequences.

“This is a terrible idea. It means more people will die,” she said. “Let’s be clear. The consumption site doesn’t bring the drug use. The drug use is already here. And the community knows that.

“We’ve had police come out, parents come out, local neighbours, social workers, local health professionals who are here to say, look, we are better off with a consumption site than we are without it, because when it’s here, it means the drug use is contained. There’s less garbage on the street and less people dying in washrooms and the schoolyards,” she said.

Healthcare researchers have predicted many deaths stemming directly from the closures. A CTV News review of federal government data shows that the sites facing closure in Toronto have reversed, on average, three overdoses a day.

The sites facing closure across Ontario have reversed on average almost six overdoses a day on average.

A CTV News review of Toronto Police Service data showed that many types of crimes dropped in the years after the supervised consumption sites were established, often more than they did in the rest of the city.