Several months ago, the Province put a hold on all applications or renewals for Supervised Consumption Sites / Consumption Treatment Services – resulting in further delay (28 months and counting) for Barrie's much-needed site, and the potential closure of existing sites seeking renewal.
Engage Barrie Organization and Supervised Consumption Saves Lives are two of fifty-one organizations across Ontario who have endorsed a letter prepared by our partners at the Canadian Drug Policy Coalition, found at https://drugpolicy.ca/supervised-consumption-services-site-closures-due-to-lack-of-funding-from-ministry-of-health/ and participated in a briefing shared at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hAbN3vSBIm4
WE NEED YOUR HELP
Please share the letter and briefing widely, and add your voice to the call for immediate provincial support of these vital health services – too many lives have been lost already.
Please also contact your MPP, the Minister of Health, and Associate Minister of Mental Health and Addictions, and encourage them to meet the demands of the letter.
Contact Information
MPPs
Barrie-Springwater-Oro-Medonte
Doug Downey
(705) 726-5538
Barrie-Innisfil
Andrea Khanjin
(705) 722-0575
Elsewhere
The Province has contact information, as well as a tool to help determine who your MPP is, at https://www.ola.org/en/get-involved/contact-mpp
Minister of Health
The Honourable Sylvia Jones, Ministry of HealthÂ
777 Bay Street, 5th FloorÂ
Toronto, ON M7A 2J3
Associate Minister of Mental Health
The Honourable Michael Tibollo, Ministry of HealthÂ
7 Queen’s Park CrescentÂ
Toronto, ON M7A 1Y7Â
Letter's Demands (in brief)
Immediately provide direct emergency funding on or before March 29 to supervised consumption services (SCS) sites that have submitted their Consumption and Treatment Services (CTS) applications to the province and are under imminent threat of closure or have been closed due to lack of funding.
Urgently provide, improve, and sustain uninterrupted provincial funding for SCS, including inhalation, and ensure equity in regional service availability, particularly in northern communities.
Phase out the Consumption and Treatment Services (CTS) approach to funding SCS, which requires additional and overly stringent conditions over and above Health Canada's requirements.
In the interim, immediately remove the cap on the number of funded SCS sites and the prohibition on inhalation services under the provincial CTS model.
In the interim, introduce transparency and an expedited 30-day timeline for responding to applications under the provincial CTS model.
Introduce a low-barrier process by which community organizations can seek provincial funding for SCS.
Integrate SCS into Ontario's core funded healthcare system with ongoing, integrated funding and resources.
Meet with the Canadian Drug Policy Coalition by March 13.