Mayor Peter Chirico continues to advocate for North Bay — and four other major northern markets — to be awarded a HART Hub.
According to Ontario Ministry of Health documents on the HART Hubs, "The intention is that the hubs will be operational by winter 2025 and that each hub will be able to provide low-barrier access to a range of locally identified services that best meet the complex needs of individuals who experience a range of overlapping issues and marginalization including homelessness; substance use issues; mental health challenges; social service support needs; and unemployment."
Chirico, in his role as a DNSSAB Board member, again spoke in favour of establishing Homelessness and Addiction Recovery Treatment Hubs in the five NOLUM (Northern Ontario Large Urban Mayors) centres during the social services board's most recent meeting.
"The NOLUM group is asking the provincial government for five HART sites in the major cities in Northern Ontario," Chirico confirmed. "Not just pick one or two, we want all five."
In late October, the District of Nipissing Social Service Administration Board filed its combined service partner application to host one of Ontario's first 10 HART Hubs. The Ministry of Health will fund the creation of the 10 Hubs (including two that are Indigenous-focused), with a budget of $6.3 million per year per Hub with $1.3 million per year earmarked specifically for supportive housing beginning in 2025-26 (to 2027-28) and $1.8 million per Hub in 2024-25 to support one-time start-up and implementation costs.
See related: DNSSAB recognizes 'no perfect location' for 24/7 hub
"Northern Ontario is different and we need these in each one of our large communities to be able to handle the overflow from many of our outlying communities that reach out for services here," Chirico added. "We're hopeful — confident, not necessarily, but hopeful."
The designation of a HART Hub would fund a permanent space that would offer housing supports to individuals and connections to other needed social and health services and incorporate overnight shelter services. DNSSAB hired a real estate agent months ago to seek out potential locations that would meet the needs of the proposed hub, which includes a space of a minimum of 4,000 square feet, within walking distance of North Bay’s downtown core where other social services are located, or easily accessible to other services.
See also: King guarantees new homeless hub 'will not go near a school'
The Ford government's support for the HART Hubs coupled with its shuttering of safe consumption sites has led to many nuanced community discussions.
Auditor General Shelley Spence was highly critical of the province’s opioid strategy in the annual report released on Dec. 3. Spence's report found the decision to adopt the HART Hub model was made "without proper planning."
The Trillium, a Village Media website devoted exclusively to covering provincial politics at Queen’s Park, reports safe consumption sites in Timmins and Sudbury closed following a lack of sustainable provincial funding, despite Timmins seeing a 227 per cent increase in opioid-related deaths between 2018 and 2023, and Sudbury experiencing a 184 per cent increase. The death rate for Indigenous people in Ontario is 11.4 per 100,000, compared to 1.6 deaths per 100,000 for non-Indigenous people, the AG report states.
See: Ford government to close 10 supervised consumption sites, ban new ones in favour of 'hub' model
Minister of Health Sylvia Jones denied responsibility for the closures since they were municipally funded when they opened but the AG report states allowing them to close will still hurt residents in Northern Ontario.
"The Ministry’s investment of $378 million for the HART Hubs was decided upon without a needs-based assessment," per the report.
See also: Funding limbo plagues potential Northern Ontario HART Hub
Moving forward with the HART Hubs and shutting down safe consumption sites will get drug users into treatment rather than “facilitating drug use,” according to Jones. “Swapping a dirty needle for a clean one is not a pathway out and does not give people hope.”
The report recommends to the Ministry of Health that it "complete all necessary planning work before transitioning to the new HART Hubs," including impact, risk and financial analysis, to "engage with all relevant stakeholders, and come up with a framework for measuring the HART Hubs' performance."
“The Ontario Government’s HART Hub model is a crucial step in addressing homelessness and addiction, and the unique geography and distance between communities in Northern Ontario highlight the need for a dedicated hub in each NOLUM city,” stated Chirico on Nov. 8.
Recently released statistics show the five NOLUM cities have the “highest opioid mortality rates in Ontario,” and municipalities are tackling the issue with “limited provincial support.”
“Economic growth and safety go hand in hand," concluded Mayor Chirico. "We’re asking the Ontario Government to commit to one Hart Hub in each city to address the opioid crisis. With government support, we can build safer communities and keep North Bay and northern Ontario moving forward.”
