WECHU 'encouraged' by wave of developments over SafePoint consumption and treatment site
WECHU 'encouraged' by wave of developments over SafePoint consumption and treatment site
After days of controversy over the location of the SafePoint consumption and treatment site in Windsor, a compromise was reached at the 11th hour before debate even took place Monday night.
Councillors Fabio Costante and Renaldo Agostino hashed out a deal to allow the supervised consumption site to open on Wyandotte Street, but also giving the downtown councillor the green light to search for a new site, pending approval from the health board.
“What's in our control is endorsing a site,” said Coun. Costante, who also serves as the chair of the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit (WECHU) board of directors. “And so if we can mitigate against any delay, then that is a win for the community.”
Councillors hashed out the deal over the weekend to dismiss Agostino’s attempt to yank council’s support for the 101 Wyandotte St. E. location.
Instead, the location will be temporary and the downtown rep will seek to strike a site selection committee to choose a new location.
“It doesn't damage anything and more importantly, what it doesn't do is it's not going to cost any single person their lives,” said Agostino after Monday’s council meeting.
The Windsor-Essex County Health Unit board now needs to meet to define and decide upon a new motion for council to consider in two weeks.
“We are encouraged by the decision of Councilor Agostino to reconsider last night’s motion, which ensures that renovations and our applications can move forward without delay,” reads a statement issued Tuesday by WECHU. “The details of the compromise referenced at the meeting will be brought forward to the Board of Health for decision in the coming week. We continue in our commitment to working with our community and elected officials on a transparent and evidence-informed process related to the location of this life-saving service.”
The last minute change of plans now begs the question: if a new location is to be chosen, where should SafePoint go?
Looking at other cities, Hamilton’s consumption site is a block from city hall.
London is currently served by a mobile unit and this summer one will open up about 300 metres from a high school in the city’s downtown.
A CTS site in Kitchener sits squarely in the downtown core, right across the street from city hall and a church.
It’s not just about concerns from nearby businesses and residents that has Agostino pushing for a new location, but also the impact on potential clients. He said a recent conversation with an old friend — who’s now a drug user — opened his eyes to the aspect of respecting human dignity and stigma experienced by people accessing these services.
“’Do you think when there's a Tigers game, and the cars are lined up along Main Street. Do you think I'm gonna walk in there?’” His friend told him. “’Do you think I'm gonna walk here so everybody that knows me or used to know me is going to see me walking in to CTS site? I'm not going to do that.’”
Bill Marra, the president and CEO of Hotel Dieu Grace HealthCare said this harm reduction strategy is but one prong of a greater plan for tackling the opioid and drug crisis in the community, which also includes prevention, treatment and enforcement.
“This is not for everyone. It's not going to solve everything, but it's certainly going to go a long way in providing another option,” Marra said.
He points to roughly 40 other CTS sites operating across Canada at this very moment, arguing they have been very successful in preventing overdoses and death. He also notes that myths around reduced property values and an uptick in crime around these centres has been proven false.
The discussion around location is missing the point — it’s really about opening up the service without further delay.
“There are lives that are at stake and that's not sensationalizing it or overdramatizing,” Marra said. “We know for a fact people are dying. This will reduce fatal and non-fatal overdoses for sure.”
Agostino will press forward with a new motion in two weeks and wants to lead up the search for a new location that works for everyone.
“The best for the people that need those services, the best for the people that live in the neighborhood, the best for the businesses that operate there,” he said. “I want to do better.”
U.S. President Joe Biden arrived in Ottawa Thursday evening for a whirlwind 27-hour visit expected to focus on both the friendly and thorny aspects of the Canada-U.S. relationship, including protectionism and migration on both sides of the border.
Canada and the United States are negotiating a deal that could see asylum seekers turned back at irregular border crossings across the border, including Roxham Road in Quebec.
Amid renewed questions over the pervasiveness of alleged interference by China in Canadian elections and affairs broadly, opposition MPs voted Thursday afternoon to affirm a parliamentary committee's call for the federal government to strike a public inquiry.
An asteroid discovered just last week will pass closer to the Earth than the orbit of the moon this weekend, an occurrence so rare it happens only once in a decade, according to NASA.
The number of Canadians receiving employment insurance benefits are at record lows and down 44 per cent from last year, new figures from Statistics Canada show.
Two Kanien'keha:ka (Mohawk) sisters from Montreal are on a mission that is close to their hearts: to save their ancestors' first language by developing video games young and old can play.
Zellers has opened the first of 25 new locations within Hudson's Bay stores across the country. The Canadian retail chain launched 12 stores in Ontario and Alberta Thursday, along with a new e-commerce website.
Embattled South Carolina Comptroller General Richard Eckstrom will resign next month after a US$3.5 billion accounting error in the year-end financial report he oversaw.
The resurrection of Zellers is officially underway with the Cambridge location opening its doors to eager shoppers who lined up ahead of the store's official reopening.
The new provincial budget features items specific to southwestern Ontario, including a new English public elementary school in London, Ont. that will serve 556 students and include 88 licensed childcare spaces.
A young Strathroy, Ont. man believes there's a promising way forward in the effort to fight his disease. But, he's being told, right now, that path isn't open to him. Friends and family are stepping up to try and make a case for Kyle McPhee to receive immunotherapy treatments.
The quick thinking and immediate actions of two people are credited with possibly saving the life of a Midland councillor after he collapsed at a meeting Wednesday evening.
Investigators with York Regional Police issued Canada-wide warrants for two men who they say are involved in the Richmond Hill attack on Ontario woman Elnaz Hajtamiri weeks before she was allegedly abducted.
The co-owners of a new liquidation store in North Bay, Samuel Quesnel and Chloé Boivenue, say they want to bring a treasure hunt shopping experience to the city.
U.S. President Joe Biden arrived in Ottawa Thursday evening for a whirlwind 27-hour visit expected to focus on both the friendly and thorny aspects of the Canada-U.S. relationship, including protectionism and migration on both sides of the border.
U.S. President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden arrived in Ottawa on a foggy Thursday evening, kicking off a whirlwind two-day visit to the capital. Ottawa police and the city of Ottawa have warned residents and visitors will see an increased police presence across the downtown core, and there will be "significant traffic and transit disruptions" during the visit.
An Ontario man said he was shocked when his truck was stolen not once but twice, and the second time it was taken he was surprised to discover he was no longer covered for theft.
For the first time, the owner of a building in Old Montreal has responded to questions about the fire — through his lawyer — addressing allegations that the building was unsafe.
Friends of Camille Maheux are trying to assemble some of her life's work. The 76-year-old photographer was killed in the Old Montreal fire and her photographs and negatives were destroyed.
The Tim Houston PC government remains firm in their promise they'll fix the health-care system by spending more taxpayer money on health than any previous government before.
The rate of snow and rain falling in the Maritimes will pick up late Thursday afternoon into evening as a weather system makes its way across the region.
Manitoba First Nation police have arrested a man connected with a shooting on March 19 on Long Plain First Nation that resulted in the community going on lockdown.
Manitoba’s labour force is growing at a rate to supply enough workers for available positions into 2026, according to the province’s labour market outlook.
When a former detective with the Vancouver Police Department discovered photos of his home were being used in a rental scam, he decided to start his own investigation.
