Canadore 'discontinuing' Lakeshore addictions treatment project

Many questions remain but Canadore College is now confirming it is no longer part of the much-delayed Northern Ontario Addiction Treatment Centre of Excellence project destined for a former car lot on Lakeshore Drive for nearly three years.

A media release issued Thursday afternoon includes a disclaimer from Canadore directing all inquiries regarding the "future of addiction treatment and the treatment beds" to the Ontario Ministry of Health and states the school "will not be commenting further on this matter."

"Canadore College will be discontinuing the Northern Ontario Addiction Treatment Centre of Excellence project. We have been advised by Ontario Health that funding for the project has been terminated. All activities will be wound down early in the new year.

"The genesis of the Addiction Treatment Centre and Canadore’s involvement was the opportunity to act as a model site in the province to demonstrate a new approach to addiction treatment which encompassed a holistic approach and to be designated as the training site for treatment centres across Northern Ontario.

"While we’re disappointed by Ontario Health’s decision, we take solace in the fact that the 53 treatment beds will remain in the Nipissing region."

The development has been shrouded in secrecy since its approval was announced in February 2022. In October, Nipissing MPP Vic Fedeli was sure the Northern Ontario Addiction Treatment Centre of Excellence would soon be opening its doors and expected officials would be sharing news of its opening date.

In the years and months since the announcement assurances were repeatedly given by school and government officials that the project would make it to the finish line. Completion dates became moving goalposts. Truly, the victims in the entire affair were those who were ready and willing to seek treatment and receive the support they needed only to be met with broken promises.

The lack of communication regarding the project only fuelled speculation regarding Canadore College's use of $6.84 million in public funding, its decision to hire and pay its staff of up to 20 without any clients for more than two years, and the business connections of the centre's landlord at 352 Lakeshore Dr. in North Bay.

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There remains doubt in local healthcare circles about the effectiveness of this residential treatment model, one that local practitioners were moving away from until Associate Minister of Mental Health and Addictions Michael Tibollo arrived on the scene in 2021 and found a willing partner in George Burton and Frank Suraci, on behalf of Canadore.

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Questions to the Ontario Ministry of Health — which oversees the addictions and mental health file under the direction of Tibollo — routinely requested information about the delayed treatment centre, including the changing construction timeline; anticipated opening date; how much of the $6.84 million in government funding remains; the need to train and pay staff for over two years (and counting); the selection of this style of a facility for North Bay after similar beds were removed in recent years; and, any concerns about the business arrangement and a relationship between Tibollo and the property owner where the centre is situated have all gone unanswered since they were initially sent in May and followed up on multiple times.

See related: Canadore's delayed addictions treatment centre lurches forward

Efforts to have Canadore College comment on the same queries have also consistently gone unfulfilled.

BACKGROUND

In February 2022, Canadore College announced North Bay would be home to a new, fully-staffed 53-bed addictions treatment centre and the school's mental health and addictions students would be trained at the facility. At the same event, Tibollo and Fedeli announced the $6.84 million contribution through the Addictions Recovery Fund "to immediately enhance access to bed-based addiction treatment supports in Nipissing."

The logic behind the Ford government sending Tibollo to North Bay to build the 53-bed treatment Lakeshore Drive centre so soon after the closure of a similar 29-bed program has never been justified. Local health care and addiction experts have been quietly wondering why the pendulum of care that had swung in what they saw as a positive direction almost immediately swung back to a model many see as less effective.

For the next two-plus years following the announcement, the construction site on the grounds of the former Lakeshore Drive car dealership was often idle. In 2022, Canadore's goal was to open by that summer, then it was pushed to early 2023. When Tibollo visited the much-delayed project site in November 2023, he acknowledged the challenges stemming from the delays and the target date was again pushed back to an "early 2024 opening date."

See: VIDEO: Update on delayed local addiction treatment centre

In July 2022, Canadore announced Wendy Prieur as its choice to lead the facility. Prieur and her staff of five have been on the clock and receiving compensation through much of the construction delay while performing their duties behind the scenes. Prieur said in November 2023, the facility's staff would grow to 22 by opening day.

Berkshire Enterprises, the owner of the property on which the Northern Ontario Addiction Treatment Centre of Excellence was to stand is involved in several real estate deals across the province, including Trout Creek Senior Living, which went up for sale due to property tax arrears before a last-minute reprieve in April.