January 24th, 2020

Horwath calls on Ford to restore funding for overdose prevention

One of Ottawa’s four sites now operating without funding

OTTAWA — Official Opposition NDP Leader Andrea Horwath was in Ottawa Friday where she called on Doug Ford to restore funding for overdose prevention sites. Horwath’s call comes as one of Ottawa’s sites struggles to operate, since temporary federal funding dried up, and the province continues to refuse to fund the site.

“The opioid crisis continues to ruin lives and devastate families here in Ottawa and in every part of Ontario. The epidemic is getting worse, not better,” said Horwath. “We know what works. We know overdose prevention sites save lives.

“The Ford government’s decision to cut support to overdose prevention sites, then slash support for public health units, is dangerous. I’m calling on the government to fund the overdose prevention sites Ottawa needs, along with the sites needed in communities across the province, to stop this crisis from spiraling further out of control.”

Despite a spike in opioid addiction and opioid-related deaths in Ottawa, Ford and Health Minister Christine Elliott decided to cut the number of consumption treatment and services (CTS) sites operated by Ottawa Public Health to just three, from four.

That meant the Clarence St. site, in the ByWard Market, lost provincial funding at the end of March 2019. It continued operating with reduced hours through temporary federal funding — but the federal funding has dried up, and Ottawa Public Health has been left holding the bag.

Horwath visited the Ottawa Inner City Health supervised consumption site and Shepherds of Good Hope on Friday, along with NDP MPP Joel Harden (Ottawa Centre). Ottawa Inner City Health and three other safe consumption sites in Ottawa collectively saw 33,588 visits from July to September 2019. 126 overdoses were treated with Naloxone in that time, and 166 more with oxygen and rescue breathing. Only five people were taken to a hospital.

“Services for mental health and addictions need to be expanded, not cut,” said Horwath. “Otherwise more families are going to lose a loved one as a result of addiction.”