Letter to Government
On October 11th, 2023, the following letter was sent out to communicate the details of this report to key decision makers in government.
Premier Doug Ford
Mayor Olivia Chow
Minister Sylvia Jones, Minister of Health
Minister Michael Tibollo, Associate Minister of Mental Health and Addictions
Dr. Catherine Zahn, Deputy Minister of Health, Ministry of Health
Subject: Statement of support reaches over 2000 signatures, showing strong support for supervised consumption site and harm reduction services in Leslieville
Dear Premier Ford, Mayor Chow, Minister Jones, Associate Minister Tibollo and Dr. Zahn,
We, the Leslieville Harm Reduction Coalition, are pleased to share with you that our statement of support for the South Riverdale Community Health Centre (SRCHC) has received 2,131 signatures as of this morning. Amidst controversy over the provision of harm reduction services in Toronto, this statement shows strong support for supervised consumption services and continuing harm reduction services for people who use drugs in Leslieville, and across the entire city.
Our statement of support was launched in July in the face of a group of neighbours calling for the supervised consumption site located at South Riverdale Community Health Centre to be closed. The provincial government then announced in August it would be launching a review of all supervised consumption sites in Ontario. This was followed last week by an announcement that it will be pausing new supervised consumption site approvals across the province as it completes this review.
The pausing of approvals for new sites is a dangerous move at a time when the drug toxicity crisis in Ontario killed almost 3,000 people in Ontario in 2021. All levels of government need to be scaling up their response to the toxic drug crisis, including providing comprehensive support for evidence-based harm reduction interventions and supervised consumption services.
In contrast to the small but vocal group of opponents, the statement shows strong support for the continuation of the life-saving services offered at the South Riverdale Community Health Centre — where 129 lives were saved at the supervised consumption site in 2022 —and also highlights how the entire community benefits when vulnerable community members and people who use drugs have access to health and social services in the local communities where they live.
By signing the statement, these 2000+ people call on you to: :
- Increase funding for South Riverdale Community Health Centre to enable them to sustain and expand services in light of the socio-economic crises facing so many in the community;
- Increase funding for the supervised consumption site and harm reduction programming at South Riverdale Community Health Centre to ensure there are enough staff and programming to meet the increasing needs of service users, and actively engage with the broader community;
- Address gun violence through strong gun control measures and community programming that targets the root causes of violence.
An analysis of the postal code data supplied by those who signed the statement of support shows that 90% of the signatories live in Toronto, with close to 40% of the signatories living in the catchment area for the South Riverdale Community Health Centre, demonstrating strong support in the local community for the harm reduction and supervised consumption services offered by the health centre.
The Leslieville Harm Reduction Coalition is a collective of neighbours who came together in July 2023 after the tragic death of a community member, who was shot and killed in the middle of the day and whose family has recently released their first statement to the media. The tragic and senseless death brought increased attention to the South Riverdale Community Health Centre, located across the street from the site of the shooting. We are not affiliated with any community health centre, supervised consumption site, or any other agency or institution. We have come together as a coalition because we are committed to supporting our community — including and especially people experiencing marginalization, people who use drugs, people who access harm reduction services, and people experiencing homelessness.
Several Leslieville Harm Reduction Coalition members have also been members of the Safer Community Committee formed by SRCHC over the summer and have been diligently working on solutions that prioritise the safety of all members of the community — including health services for people at high risk of overdose due to the continuing drug toxicity crisis that is currently taking the lives of 6 people in Ontario every day. The Safer Community Committee members witnessed the effort that the South Riverdale Community Health Centre has taken to address community concerns as part of a comprehensive attempt to find solutions that increase the safety of all our community members, including people who use drugs.
As in many diverse communities across the city, the instability and disruption resulting from the affordable housing crisis, the toxic drug crisis, and lack of mental health services has dramatically increased the need for low-barrier health services such as those offered at the South Riverdale Community Health Centre. This statement shows strong support for a comprehensive response that includes affordable housing, access to mental health supports, and life-saving, evidence-based harm reduction services to address the overdose crisis.
Please contact us with any questions as we would be pleased to speak with you about the measures that you are taking to improve the safety of all of our community members, including those at high risk of overdose from the toxic drug crisis, and who rely on the lifesaving services provided by harm reduction programs and supervised consumption sites every day. We look forward to hearing of your concrete action on the above-mentioned asks.
Sincerely,
The Leslieville Harm Reduction Coalitionhttps://leslievillehr.ca/
info@leslievillehr.ca