Despite injunction, advocates worry Ontario drug consumption sites risk closing without funding

Harm reduction workers and advocates are celebrating a court injunction that will temporarily keep 10 supervised drug consumption sites in Ontario from closing but say they fear for their long-term future if the province refuses to fund them.

On Friday, an Ontario judge said all sites slated to close under a new provincial law by April 1 can remain open while he considers a Charter challenge of the legislation that bans the sites from operating within 200 metres of schools or daycare centres.

However, a spokesperson for Ontario Health Minister Sylvia Jones said the ruling doesn't change the province's plans.

"Provincial funding for HART Hubs cannot be used for drug injection services and will be contingent on the organization not seeking to continue those services," Hannah Jensen said in a statement on Friday, referring to new centres to help people who are homeless and aid in addiction recovery.

That means some sites may not have the funds to keep operating, at least not at the same level, even if they won't be forced to close by the province for now, said Diana Chan McNally, a Toronto community worker and expert in harm reduction.

"Unfortunately, one way or another, even though we are not illegal at this moment, it does mean that we will most likely lose services," she said. 

McNally said the province's shift toward an abstinence-based treatment model won't address the toxic drug problem that is killing people who aren't coping with addiction.

"People who don't have addictions are also dying as a result of toxic drugs," she said.

"We're talking about kids who are using for the first time. We're talking about people who are going out at night, people who use casually, and they're not being factored in."

The challenge under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms was launched by the Neighbourhood Group, which runs the Kensington Market Overdose Prevention Site in downtown Toronto.

That site is funded through donations, but the organization's CEO, Bill Sinclair, said he worries about other locations that have relied on provincial funding.

"That is a challenge, that without funding some sites wouldn't be able to continue even if they are allowed to by law," he said. "In our case at least, the law is not stopping us. It's just a case of us having to continue to fundraise to stay open."

Last summer, the health minister announced a fundamental shift in the province's approach to the deadly and decade-long opioid crisis. The new rules, which prevent the operation of sites within a certain distance of schools and daycares, mean 10 sites out of 23 across the province would have to close.

As part of the new approach, the province is funding 18 new Homeless and Addiction Recovery Treatment Hubs, or HART Hubs, in addition to the nine supervised consumption sites that agreed to become HART Hubs rather than face imminent closure.