Ontario judge grants injunction to keep consumption sites open for now

An Ontario judge has granted an injunction to keep 10 supervised consumption sites open while he considers a Charter challenge of a new provincial law that bans the sites from operating within 200 metres of schools or daycares.

Superior Court Justice John Callaghan says all sites slated to close under the new law by April 1 can remain open until 30 days after he decides the case.

“The constitutional issues in this application are complex,” Callaghan wrote. 

“My decision will require some time. Thus, I have reserved my decision on the Charter and other constitutional issues and the judgment will be released in the coming months.”

The province passed legislation last year that banned consumption sites deemed too close to schools or daycares. The Neighbourhood Group, which runs the Kensington Market Overdose Prevention Site in downtown Toronto, launched a lawsuit in December along with two people who use the space.

The group says supervised consumption sites are part of the solution to the ongoing drug crisis that claims thousands of Ontarians’ lives every year.

They argued in court earlier this week that the new law violates both the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the Constitution, including the right to life, liberty and security of the person. 

The province has argued the new law does not violate the Charter or the Constitution and that the legislation is necessary to protect the public, particularly children, from disorder and violence near the consumption sites.

The judge said he granted an exemption to all supervised consumption sites so they can continue operating as usual. He said the harm to users of the sites outweighed the harm to the public on a time-limited basis while he considers his decision.

“Exempting the existing (supervised consumption sites) will have a substantial public benefit of preventing serious health risks and deaths which, in my view, outweighs the harm caused by the continued public disorder,” Callaghan wrote in his decision.

The Neighbourhood Group is celebrating the decision that grants temporary relief to its clients.

“Today’s decision means people will be allowed to stay alive at least a little bit longer,” said Carlo Di Carlo, the lawyer who represented the site and its two users in court for two days of arguments earlier this week.

The province is moving to an abstinence-based treatment model. Ten consumption sites are scheduled to cease operations by April 1. Nine of those consumption sites will be converted to homelessness and addiction recovery treatment hubs, or HART hubs as the province refers to them. Ontario has also approved 18 new hubs across the province.

The province is investing $529 million into the plan that includes 540 highly supportive housing units.

The Ford government quickly signalled after Friday’s ruling that it intends to move forward with an abstinence-based treatment model already set to begin on April 1. A spokesperson for Health Minister Sylvia Jones suggested provincial funding for new HART hubs will be withheld if they continue to offer supervised consumption services.

“Our priority is to protect children and families from violent crime and dangerous public drug use occurring at drug injection sites located near schools and daycares,” spokesperson Hannah Jensen said. “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.”

The Kensington Market site will stay open, the organization’s CEO said. It is not provincially funded – it operates on donations, and will now welcome more in order to keep going. 

“We actually didn’t have a closing plan because we were hopeful and optimistic that we would stay open on April 1st, and now we will,” said Bill Sinclair.

“We’re so glad to be providing life-saving services beyond next week.”

The keepSIX Consumption and Treatment Service at the South Riverdale Community Health Centre, which closed its doors on March 21, says it will remain closed as its funding has been removed.

Riverdale residents previously aired their concerns about the criminal activity around the site, especially after 44-year-old Karolina Huebner-Makurat was accidentally struck by gunfire and killed near the area in July 2023.

A woman who worked as a community health worker was later charged in the daytime shooting. Huebner-Makurat’s death prompted the review of consumption sites by the province.

Public health officials and harm reduction workers have warned that overdoses, deaths and calls to emergency services will increase after the supervised consumption sites close. However, Health Minister Sylvia Jones said last summer that no one will die as a result of the policy shift.