Judge seeks more clarity on facts in supervised consumption site legal challenge

The Ontario judge overseeing the legal challenge of the province's ban on supervised consumption sites that are within 200 metres of schools and daycares unexpectedly recalled court Monday in a bid to understand whether he had all the facts to decide the case.

Justice John Callaghan heard arguments in late March from The Neighbourhood Group, which runs a consumption site in downtown Toronto. The organization, along with two of its users, argued the new law violates the Constitution and the Charter of Rights and Freedoms because the sites save lives.

The province says the legislation violates neither and its lawyers argued the case is merely about regulating the sites' locations.

The case drew numerous interveners, including neighbours who supported the government's new law and some who disagreed with the province's approach. Among the interveners was another supervised consumption site in Toronto, harm reduction workers and the City of Toronto's board of health.

But at issue for the judge are comments from Health Minister Sylvia Jones, whose office told The Canadian Press while the case was in court that the province would not allow new sites to open or allow current ones to move in order to comply with the new law.

Callaghan granted an injunction to allow 10 sites slated for closure because of the new rules to remain open while he considers his decision.

But nine of 10 sites slated for closure shut down anyway because they had agreed to transition to government-approved homelessness and addiction recovery hubs, or HART hubs as the province calls them, for about four times the amount of funding.

That caught Callaghan by surprise.

"I am a little concerned the record does not reflect some of the facts, such as nine of 10 sites didn't close because of legislation, but because of funding," Callaghan said.

He asked the lawyers if he needed more facts to properly decide the case.

Zachary Green, a lawyer for the province, said the judge had all the facts because the case doesn't focus on all the consumption sites or the minister of health, but rather on one site: The Kensington Market Overdose Prevention Site run by The Neighbourhood Group.

The judge asked that group if they wanted to update the submitted evidence, particularly to answer the question as to why the consumption sites closed despite his injunction.

Carlo Di Carlo, the lawyer representing The Neighbourhood Group, said he would need time to consult with his client.

But the group said it would try to get some new evidence into court, namely an article by The Canadian Press that quotes Jones's office.