What was supposed to be a feelgood event in St. Catharines to announce funding to train workers for shipbuilding wound up with Premier Doug Ford defending his government’s decision to close supervised safe injection sites across the province yesterday.
“I've listened to the people in the neighbourhoods. I've consulted with them,” Ford said. “I've been getting endless phone calls about needles being in the parks, needles being by the schools and by the day cares. That's unacceptable.”
Instead, the government will convert the sites to so-called HART (Homelessness and Addiction Recovery Treatment) Hubs which Ford said will provide people living with addiction to get the care they need to recover, including primary health care, mental health services, addiction care and support. The province, he said, will be investing $378 million into the initiative.
“We need to get rid of safe supply. We need to put money into treatment detox beds,” he said. “That's what we need to do, not continue to giving people free drugs.”
In his estimation, Ford said the safe injection sites simply did not work.
“This was supposed to be the greatest thing since sliced bread,” he said. “It's the worst thing that could ever happen to a community to have one of these safe injection sites in their neighbourhood.”
He also called it “scare tactics” put forward by supporters of the sites who say that closing them will only result in more public drug use in places such as parks.
“It's a failed policy, simple as that,” Ford said. “We're making a better policy, $378 million to help these people, support them, get them help, get them back on their feet, get them a good paying job.”
In addition to the issue of addiction, Ford was also asked if municipalities, who are finding themselves dealing with more and more homelessness, could expect any help from Queen’s Park.
Ford said the Province has put “hundreds of millions of dollars” into helping municipalities deal with homelessness.
“We're always willing to sit down and talk to the mayors and see their situation, but we're there to support them,” Ford said, adding that “there’s no government that's put more money into homeless and homeless shelters, mental health and addiction than this government has.”
