"The services the sites provide save lives and connect vulnerable people to essential health and social services. Keith Hambly, CEO of Fred Victor Centre, expressed deep disappointment with the government's decision to end funding for remaining supervised consumption sites, emphasizing the critical role these facilities play in harm reduction and community support."
"The province says it will initiate a 90-day wind-down period to give those using the sites time to transition to the government's abstinence-based model homelessness and addiction recovery treatment, or HART, hubs. Health Minister Sylvia Jones stated the government is focused on treatment, recovery and safer communities through this transition strategy."
"Janet Butler-McPhee, co-executive director of the HIV Legal Network, called the province's decision to pull funding a cowardly move that will put lives at risk, representing the strong opposition from harm reduction advocates to Ontario's shift away from supervised consumption sites."
Ontario's government is cutting provincial funding for seven supervised drug consumption sites across Toronto, Ottawa, Niagara, Peterborough, and London, implementing a 90-day wind-down period. The province is transitioning users to its abstinence-based HART (homelessness and addiction recovery treatment) hubs, which opened nine locations on Tuesday. Health Minister Sylvia Jones stated the focus is on treatment, recovery, and safer communities. Harm reduction advocates and organizations like the Fred Victor Centre and HIV Legal Network oppose the decision, arguing supervised consumption sites save lives and connect vulnerable people to essential services. Critics describe the move as risky and poorly executed, while the government maintains its commitment to recovery-focused approaches.
Read at www.cbc.ca
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]