Ontario Premier Doug Ford is calling out the federal government for being “drug dealers,” following an announcement for new restrictions on supervised drug consumption sites which will lead to the closure of 10 facilities.
At a press conference in St. Catharines on Wednesday, Ford expressed his discontentment with safe injection sites to reporters, emphasizing that the facilities do not work for people suffering from drug addictions.
“This was supposed to be the greatest thing since sliced bread,” he said. “It’s the worst thing that could ever happen to a community.”
He later blamed the federal government for being a part of the problem with its “Safer Supply” initiative, where individuals can be prescribed medications by a health-care practitioner as a safer alternative to the toxic illegal street drugs which often leads many to overdose.
“[Addicts] get to go up there and get endless, endless amounts of drugs and guess what they do? They go out and they sell it, and get other people addicted. And then, they go and get even stronger drugs,” Ford said.
“As far as I’m concerned, the federal government’s the biggest drug dealer in the entire country.
It’s unacceptable, it needs to stop,” he added.
The press conference comes only one day after Ontario’s Health Minister Sylvia Jones announced tighter restrictions on active sites.
The new restrictions will ban sites to be within 200 metres of schools and childcare centres, closing over half of the current 17 provincially regulated consumption sites in the province.
The 10 sites that will have to close due to the new rules include five in Toronto and one in Ottawa, Kitchener, Thunder Bay, Hamilton and Guelph.
Alongside the restrictions, the government has announced that it will invest $378 million into new treatment hubs, called Homelessness and Addiction Recovery Treatment (HART) Hubs, a support service that will offer primary care, mental health services, employment support, as well as up to 375 highly supportive housing units, in addition to addiction recovery and treatment beds.
“Giving someone, an addict, a place to do their injections, we haven’t seen it get better,” Ford pleaded.
“We need to get rid of safe supply. We need to put money into treatment, detox beds, that’s what we need to do. Not continue giving people free drugs.”
Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow and Ward 13 – Councillor Chris Moise released a joint statement on Tuesday, expressing their concerns over taking away harm reduction services, especially after 524 residents died as a result of opioid toxicity last year.
“We are concerned that the provincial closure of existing harm reduction services will have significant consequences – such as more overdose deaths, more strain on police, fire and paramedics, more crowded emergency rooms, and more public drug consumption,” the statement reads.
The pair pleaded for more urgent provincial support to help people access the services they need, and said they will await more details from the government for better understanding.
As for the fear of more Torontonians dying from the lack of access to safe consumption sites, Ford says that it’s a “typical scare tactic,” and stresses that the government’s massive investment in addiction services is the right decision.
“To support people, you don’t give them more drugs,” he said.
“My heart goes out for these folks, but we’re there to help them. We aren’t there to give them safe injection sites and all the drugs that they need.”
