Questions raised over future of Windsor’s Safepoint site amid provincial review

Windsor’s downtown Consumption and Treatment Site (CTS), Safepoint, has been open since the spring but questions are looming after the province announced it is pausing the approvals of new sites while it reviews a fatal shooting outside a CTS site in Toronto.

Since opening in April, Safepoint has provided services for 600 people, including 150 people who were diverted to other social services like housing and treatment, according to data provided by the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit (WECHU).

WECHU was eager to open the doors to Safepoint as quickly as possible to combat the rising number of opioid overdoses and deaths in the community.

“In an effort to deal with a drug crisis in our community that is only getting worse,” said Ward 2 city councillor and health unit board chair, Fabio Costante.

WECHU did so with federal approvals but have been waiting on the province for its final approval and funding.

“We are very much dependent on their funding for the sustainability of safe point,” said Costante.

The province launched the review in the summer after a 44-year-old mother of two was killed by a stray bullet near a consumption site in Toronto.

But on Friday, a wrinkle in the process, with the province opting to pause all decisions on approvals and funding until the review is complete.

“We need to get a right to make sure that we're saving lives, not taking lives,” said Windsor-Tecumseh PC MPP Andrew Dowie.

But during a media event Friday, Costante said that puts the health unit in a budgeting pickle.

“I want to make clear that this is the province’s prerogative to fund this… we want to ensure at least from the province’s timelines, you know when they can expect this review to be complete,” said Costante.

When Windsor City Council approved the Safepoint site, it also agreed to assist with funding.

Costante says to date, the health unit has funded the entire project within its own budget through prudent fiscal management.

But Windsor’s mayor — who voted against the site on multiple occasions — is concerned the onus will now shift to local taxpayers.

“Now we're in this boat where the province isn't funding it and the municipal property taxpayers are funding the delivery of a service to the tune of $35,000 a month,” said Dilkens. “It shouldn't be happening this way. There needs to be an end in sight and this can't go on in perpetuity.”

The health board sent a letter earlier this week looking for timelines from the province and has yet to hear back.

“It was our expectation that the funding would have come by this summer,” said Costante. “The unfortunate incident in Toronto has caused a pause for the province but we still need to know you know where we're at, and more specifically, how long this review is going to take.”

That’s because the health unit board meets Nov. 20 to make budgeting decisions for 2024. Among other priorities, Costante said the answer to when the review will wrap up and when funding could be made available are very important when the board determines the future of Safepoint.

Dowie said he couldn’t provide a timeline.

“I don't have an answer to that today. Because in every case, especially those that have received funding, they have the same nature of review,” said Dowie, adding in the meantime there are other provincially funded services available for addictions treatment through the mental health response team, in-patient services at Hotel Dieu Grace Healthcare and the Youth Wellness Hub.