Province cuts funding to Toronto supervised consumption site

A supervised consumption site in Toronto says the province has cut off its funding, and it will have to wind down the service in 30 days.

The Parkdale Queen West Community Health Centre says the decision is devastating and it will force people to use drugs in public parks, washrooms, shelters and other places.

“We know that harm reduction services are often a gateway to long-term recovery. Without them, some of our most vulnerable will be pushed into greater danger, and the very issues that concern our neighbours — overdoses, discarded equipment, and public drug use — will increase, not decline,” read the group’s statement.

“Closing a life-saving service without offering an alternative may initially satisfy those who see it as a problem, but the impact of this decision will cost lives, heighten community tensions, and deepen the inequities our province is already struggling to contain.”

The centre’s sister site in another location had already closed and transitioned to a homelessness and addiction recovery treatment hub — or HART hub.

A law that came into effect earlier this year banned consumption sites located within 200 metres of a school or daycare, and a number of those sites had agreed to transition to the province’s new abstinence-based model.