August 20, 2024
The following is a joint statement from SEIU Healthcare, CUPE Local 79, CUPE Ontario, OPSEU/SEFPO, ONA, and UFCW Locals 175 & 633.
Every Ontarian deserves low-barrier access to mental health and addictions services in their community. These services must include life-saving harm reduction spaces that are well-funded and professionally administered and allow for the safe consumption and treatment in places across the province where the need is greatest serving the most vulnerable and marginalized. Currently there are 17 provincially funded sites across Ontario, but there is clear and evident need for more in communities across the province.
As representatives of workers, community nurses and health-care professionals, and health care providers at consumption treatment and safe injection sites, we strongly condemn today’s announcement from the provincial government.
Premier Ford’s decision to close certain life-saving supervised drug consumption facilities will cost lives and hurt communities. It will also lead to increasing the burden on already stretched Emergency Medical Services and on our ERs and hospitals.
Safe injection sites were born out of necessity, organized without a legal framework by community advocates who bravely acted to save lives. We must not go back to a time when the opioid crisis is allowed to grow under the veil of ignorance and stigma. In fact, one person in Ontario dies every 2.5 hours due to toxic unregulated drugs (source). We cannot abandon these human beings.
Public policy should be evidence-based, and all of the research shows that safe consumption and treatment sites save lives. Instead, Ontario is making policy based on the Premier’s reaction to his federal Conservative leader. This is not defensible.
For these reasons, we call on the provincial government urgently to speak with people with lived experience, researchers, service providers and the front-line workers who are best placed to provide input on how to improve consumption and treatment services and on how best to integrate them into other mental health and support services. It is critical to maintain and increase funding and exemptions to all currently operated sites.
Our members and our organizations save lives every day; policy announcements like these will do the opposite.
CUPE Local 79
CUPE Ontario
CUPE Local 5399
OPSEU/SEFPO
ONA
SEIU
UFCW Locals 175 & 633