‘People will die’: Toronto Board of Health Chair denounces plans to close supervised consumption sites

The Toronto Board of Health denounced the province’s plans to close five supervised consumption sites across the city, saying it will lead to more drug deaths and public drug use while putting a greater strain on emergency services as they race to more overdose calls.

“People will die,” Board Chair, Coun. Chris Moise, grimly said during a news conference Tuesday.

Earlier, the province of Ontario announced it was banning the controversial consumption sites within 200 metres of schools and child care centres and investing millions more in drug recovery and treatment hubs.

While announcing the changes, Minister of Health Sylvia Jones cited statistics showing high-crime rates near the sites.

“Just last year for example, compared to the rest of the city, there was 113 per cent higher reports of assault near these sites in Toronto,” she said. “Our first priority must always be protecting our communities, especially when it comes to some of our most innocent and vulnerable: children.”

The following five sites are slated for closure in Toronto no later than March 31, 2025.

• Parkdale Queen West Community Health Centre (Bathurst) – 168 Bathurst Street
• Regent Park Community Health Centre – 465 Dundas Street East
• South Riverdale Community Health Centre (Queen) – 955 Queen Street East
• Toronto Public Health (The Works) – 277 Victoria Street
• Kensington Market Overdose Prevention Site, The Neighbourhood Group – 260 Augusta Avenue (Self-funded site)

While Moise applauded the province for investing more money in treatment, the former drug counselor didn’t pull any punches about what he considers the irresponsible move to shutter some sites.

“If sites are forced to close we will see more public drug use in our parks and our laneways. We will see more discarded needles on our streets. We will see increased risk of transmission of diseases from shared needles like HIV and Hep C, and we will see more overdoses and deaths,” Moise stressed.

“Our emergency services are not equipped to support the calls that will result from a drastic loss of supervised consumption services,” he added.

While Moise says he and Mayor Olivia Chow had been in talks with the province about more funding for drug treatment, he says they were blindsided by the news of the closures.

“In regards to the elimination of safe consumption sites, this was new to us. We were not consulted.”

Chow and Moise have released a joint statement on the matter, expressing their concerns with the closures.

Read my joint statement with Councillor Chris Moise, chair of Toronto Public Health, below: pic.twitter.com/q3e24h3TRx

— Mayor Olivia Chow (@MayorOliviaChow) August 20, 2024

Before entering politics, Moise says he worked as a drug counsellor for 22 years.

“We have saved lives over the years and I’ve seen it first hand,” he said.

“The system as it is is not perfect but we know that hundreds of people use these sites on a daily basis … they are indoors and being supervised by professionals and if there is an overdose they are being helped.”