Windsor city council approves Wyandotte Street location for future consumption and treatment site

The proposed consumption and treatment site at 101 Wyandotte St. E. in Windsor, Ont. on Sunday, May 29, 2022. (Bob Bellacicco/CTV News Windsor)

The Windsor Essex County Health Unit (WECHU) is one step closer to establishing a safe consumption and treatment site downtown after city council approved a proposed location during Monday night’s council meeting.

Council members voted 6-5 in favour of a motion to support the WECHU’s application to the province to establish a site at 101 Wyandotte Street East.

Council debated the issue back in January, voting 6-5 in favour of a site down the road at 628 Goyeau Street, however, that deal fell through with the building owner.

At the time, councillors heard from the health unit about the need to establish a supervised consumption and treatment site in the city, highlighting that emergency department visits, EMS calls and opioid overdose deaths have all increased since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to data from the health unit, overdoses have nearly quadrupled since 2016, with 416 in 2021, the highest number ever logged.

Dilkens, who opposed the motion, spoke out about his reasoning, stating he did not believe the location was the right fit.

“We’ve already had the debate on this particular issue a couple of months ago and I think it was unanimous at the time that everyone on council said ‘let’s support it but let’s find a place where it makes sense,’” he said.

“The majority of council opted to move forward with a location on Goyeau Street. This one now moves it right to the intersection of Wyandotte Street and Goyeau. And I would, for the record, I believe it’s a bad location originally and this is actually, making it worse so I just can’t support this motion.”

The Wyandotte St. location was one of two sites originally proposed.

The health unit can now move forward with its application to the Ontario Ministry of Health and Health Canada which required municipal support.