Closure of supervised consumption sites could become Ontario election issue, former mayor says

A former Toronto mayor says advocates could push to make the closure of 10 supervised consumption sites a provincial election issue if Ontario goes to the polls this year.

John Sewell spoke before a public meeting on Monday night that brought together former Ontario premier Kathleen Wynne, former Toronto mayors David Crombie and Barbara Hall, and Toronto city councillor Chris Moise. 

"If those sites are closed, we're going to be in real trouble. People are going to be dying on the streets," Sewell told reporters on Monday at Trinity St. Paul's Church.

"I hope that we can apply some political pressure," he said. "If an election is coming, we can raise it during the election."

Last summer, Ontario announced it would close 10 of the province's 23 safe injection sites. Earlier this month, it said nine of those sites will transition to Homelessness and Addiction Recovery Treatment (HART) Hubs that will focus on addiction treatment and recovery instead of harm reduction.

Sewell, one of the organizers of the meeting, said he has been interested in the issue since 2015, when he and Crombie brought together a group of about 40 prominent Torontonians to lobby city council to establish a supervised consumption site in the city.

When Sewell said he heard Ontario Premier Doug Ford was going to close the sites, he thought "wow" and that the closure of the sites would create problems. 

He said the evidence is clear that harm reduction works.

"I don't know what kind of evidence the province is using when it's saying these are a serious problem. They aren't. They solve problems. They don't create them. Sites save lives," Sewell said.

Sewell said a Charter challenge of the legislation banning the sites within 200 metres of schools and child-care centres will be heard in mid-March.

On Monday, Ontario Premier Doug Ford fuelled speculation of an early election call when he said he may have to "let the people decide" if his government should spend billions to offset the impact of potential incoming American tariffs.

Wynne, who moderated the discussion, said she would like to have a civil conversation about the evidence and to let the community hear from the experts.

"This decision is going to put people's lives at risk," she said.

Wynne said she thinks the government simply doesn't believe in harm reduction because if it was simply a matter of where the sites are located, it could have had a discussion about regulations, not close 10 sites down entirely.