Advocates vow to fight for safe consumption site in Barrie despite application withdrawal

It's been a devastating blow for those who support supervised consumption in the City of Barrie.

Still, advocates say they're not letting Barrie's Consumption and Treatment Services (CTS) site application withdrawal end their goal.

In a release issued Monday, the Canadian Mental Health Association Simcoe County Branch (CMHA SCB) announced it decided to withdraw its application for the site at 11 Innisfil Street after waiting years for the Ontario government's stamp of approval to move forward.

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The application for the CTS was initially submitted in 2021 to Health Canada and the Ontario Ministry of Health. The federal approval was granted the following year, but the province paused giving the green light on all applications following a fatal shooting outside a consumption and treatment site in Toronto.

CMHA SCB had spent over $130,000 on rent for the location since applying, yet it had never heard from the Ministry of Health.

"We've not received any communication from the Ministry of Health, and that money could have been diverted in other ways that actually help support individuals and potentially save them," said Dr. Valerie Grdisa, CMHA SCB CEO. "Something that has been frustrating, and to be honest, I don't really understand why we've not been getting communication related to having received the letters from our joint board and, or, our entire board of directors."

The federal exemption remains in place until September, meaning another community partner could step in to fund a site.

Grdisa said the CMHA SCB would facilitate helping but wouldn't be the lead.

The withdrawal does not change how the organization views CTS sites. Together with the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit (SMDHU), they say CTS sites play a crucial role in preventing serious harm to those who use drugs and help increase the intake of addiction treatment.

"We need to demand that the politicians that we've put into place to care for our community are doing that," said Sarah Tilley, Harm Reduction manager at the Gilbert Centre in Barrie. "We can use our voice. If we all collectively stand up and do that together, and I hope that as disappointing as this is, I hope it's a call to action."

Tilley emphasized that more should be said locally to encourage the province to take CTS funding and harm reduction seriously.

She pointed to other municipalities, like Sudbury, where city councils have previously funded their own facilities while waiting for provincial funding approval and asked why Barrie couldn't do the same.

Barrie Mayor Alex Nuttall did not respond to a request for comment made by CTV News.

"It's really disappointing to see people who have the influence and power at the provincial level who are not using their leverage for these lifesaving services," Tilley added. "We're seeing the results after three years of paying for a site we cannot use."

According to experts, there were 16 suspected drug-related deaths in Simcoe Muskoka last month alone.

This year, the SMDHU said there had been 26 deaths in Barrie so far after 53 people died from an overdose last year.

"The Ontario government continues to blatantly ignore the evidence that shows that a supervised consumption site in a community will make that community healthier and safer," said Victoria Scott, a director with Engage Barrie.

Scott's group was partly formed by residents who supported the original supervised consumption site in Barrie in 2019. She called the decision heartbreaking but understood the reasoning behind why the CMHA SCB could no longer continue renting the space.

"The fight will continue," she added. "We will continue to keep this health emergency in the public eye."

The Ministry of Health did not return multiple attempts by CTV News to reach it for comment.

In a statement to CTV News in March, the Ministry said applications at all 17 provincial CTS sites remained under review, and that the applications would remain paused during the review process.

Despite the setback, the health unit and the CMHA SCB said they would remain actively involved in addressing the opioid crisis by expanding access to medical treatment for addiction, raising public awareness, and working with people who use drugs.

With files from CTV's Kim Phillips