Advocates taking the Ford government to court to fight its closure of 10 supervised drug consumption sites say the law they are trying to have thrown out is filled with “millions of ifs” that make it impossible for them to relocate or reopen.
A Toronto court heard arguments this week between supervised consumption site advocates and the Ontario government.
The case will decide if 10 sites are forced to shut their doors at the end of March.
Last year, the government announced and passed a law that banned supervised drug injection sites from operating within 200 metres of schools or daycare centres. It also required sites operating under a federal exception to seek permission from the province before opening — permission the Ford government said it would deny.
While Ontario Health Minister Sylvia Jones has been unequivocal that her government will not approve any new supervised consumption sites, lawyers representing the province have claimed the law she passed doesn’t technically stop the sites from reopening.
The Neighbourhood Group, which runs the Kensington Market Overdose Prevention Site in downtown Toronto, launched a lawsuit in December along with two people who use the space.
They argue the new law violates both the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the Constitution, including the right to life, liberty and security of the person. Closing supervised consumption sites violates that right by forcing people who use them to resort to unhealthy and unsafe drug consumption, the challenge argues.
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The government’s lawyers have said the law doesn’t technically stop the sites from relocating, even if the health minister has clearly articulated she won’t approve new locations.
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“The purpose of the act isn’t to shut down supervised consumption sites or prohibit them, it’s just to regulate their location,” Zachary Green, a lawyer with the province, said Tuesday.
Under Ontario’s current system, licences for supervised consumption sites are tied to specific addresses, so any site that tried to relocate would need a new licence. The government said it wouldn’t approve those requests.
“Our government has been clear, we will not approve any new or relocating drug injection sites,” a spokesperson for Jones reiterated on Wednesday.
The advocates taking the government to court — who are hoping for an injunction to at least pause their closure from next Monday — said the number of loopholes and caveats to relocating make it impossible.
“There’s a million ifs and I think practically it will make it either impossible or virtually impossible to relocate or open a site,” Sandra Ka Hon Chu, co-executive director of the HIV Legal Network, said Wednesday.
She said she hoped the court would consider the Progressive Conservative government’s clear promise not to approve more sites in its decision.
“I think it’s practically impossible,” she reiterated. “I hope the judge doesn’t just consider the technicality of the law but considers realities and all the evidence was speaking to the realities of what this law will do.”
Bill Sinclair, who runs the Neighbourhood Group, said the legislation was designed to close the final few supervised consumption sites in Ontario through attrition.
“All future sites are at risk because people’s leases expire and they will not be allowed to relocate,” he said.
“A child care could open up next door and they will not be allowed to relocate. They could run into funding problems and they would not be allowed to go to any municipality for support. Already more than 10 sites are at risk of closing next week… this creates a pathway of closure, one by one, of sites.”
On March 31, 10 supervised consumption sites near schools and daycares will have to close in Ontario, unless the court rules otherwise.
Ontario is moving to an absence model in its fight against the opioid crisis by opening a series of intensive addiction treatment hubs, including nine that will open at the locations of supervised consumption sites forced to close.
— with files from The Canadian Press
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