The provincial government led by Premier Doug Ford has elected to shutter ten of the of province’s 23 safe injection sites based on a “gut feeling” they are not working. This, despite the government’s own experts telling him they are not only working, but that their work needs to be bolstered. The war on drugs is now part of the culture wars in Doug Ford’s Ontario.

The pretext for the closures is a prohibition of the sites being located within 200 metres of schools. Concurrently though, the government has indicated that no application outside that perimeter will be welcomed; so apparently, it’s not really about schools at all. 

In 2023, 523 people died in Toronto from opioid toxicity according to Toronto Public Health, up 74 per cent from 2019. The unregulated drug supply is increasingly toxic because it is contaminated with dangerous substances including fentanyl. Safe drug injection sites save countless lives as users can get immediate help should they overdose. They can get clean needles, have their drugs tested, and receive treatment. The number of people who overdose because they are alone, at home or on the street, will only go up when these sites close.

Advocates add that safe injection sites are a far better use of health care resources than someone shooting up in a park, overdosing, and then requiring emergency hospital care. Providing clean needles reduces the spread of infectious diseases which the health care system also bears the burden of treating. 

In announcing the closure, the province promised to spend $378 million on 19 new Homelessness and Addiction Recovery Treatment (HART) hubs. There will be no injections permitted at these sites, and no clean needles will be made available. Zoe Dodd, a harm reduction worker told CBC’s Metro Morning that she was critical of the plan because “they should really start with a pilot to demonstrate its efficacy at saving lives.” While the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) welcomed the HART hub announcement they were very critical of the safe injection site closures, saying that “they [the safe injection sites] are a necessary part of a comprehensive response to the drug toxicity crises.” Ford responded with: “The sites are a failed policy, simple as that.” Ford does like to keep things simple.  

This announcement comes as the province has allowed any convenience store, regardless of how close it is to a school, to sell beer, wine, and alcoholic cocktails from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily. No risks for kids there apparently. Same for Vape shops that can be next door to high schools. Students are a high-risk group, but the province is not actually thinking about the welfare of students, that’s just smoke.

Sylvia Jones is currently the province’s health minister. Her constant insincerity makes her perhaps the most obnoxious of Ford’s cabinet of flying monkeys, assuring a press conference “that no one will die as a result of the closure of safe injection sites.” Jones is the one who served as solicitor general, Ontario’s top cop, during COVID-19. She ordered police to arrest anyone who left their home without provincial consent. The police ignored the order as it was unlawful. She should have resigned then and crawled away somewhere. Her foray into the opioid addiction crisis sounds eerily similar to the Reagan-era war on drugs when Nancy Reagan offered the remedy to addicted users: “Just say no.” Apparently, as it turns out, it’s not that simple.

And if you think the federal government will come to the rescue, think again. Ontario has taken a page out of Alberta’s playbook and prohibited municipalities from accepting federal support for safe injection sites:  It’s Ford’s job not to do apparently, and he wants to make sure no one else fills in the void he has created.

Some have argued that Ford simply has a different ideology when it comes to safe injection sites. That gives his motivation too much credit. He has no world view other than holding onto power, no coherent set of beliefs or guiding principles that underlie denying care to those in need and at risk of dying. It’s just mean spiritedness. We can imagine in the future from Ford: “Look we threw them a lifeline. It sucks they can’t swim to it cause their dead. They should make better choices next time.” 

There is no next time.

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