The Ontario government is conducting a review of overdose prevention sites across the province. Whether more sites will be added is still up in the air and the ones that are currently operating, like one in Kingston, will have to re-apply to keep operating under a new re-branded format.
Randy Hillier, the MPP for Lanark-Frontenac-Kingston, toured the downtown Kingston facility on Thursday and said he likes what he saw.
“I have no doubt that the province-wide strategy of going to this consumption treatment strategy is very much what we’re seeing here.”
Overdose prevention sites are approved and funded by the province. The Tory MPP spent almost an hour at the Barrack Street facility.
Mike Bell, the CEO of the Street Health Centre where the overdose prevention site is located, said the tour gave Hillier a better idea of the what’s being offered at the site.
“The acknowledgement that overdose prevention services are important, but wrap around care in terms of treatment, counselling, referral to other really paramount programs and services are a big part of this issue.”
The Kingston site has been open for four months. Some members of the community drug strategy were on hand for Hillier’s tour including Kingston police chief-designate Antje McNeely. The first step in the re-application process is getting approval from Kingston city council.