Poilievre recently said supervised consumption sites are “drug dens” that a future Conservative government would seek to close.
“Stigmatizing drug users and shutting down these essential services only serves to exacerbate the problem, leading to more harm and fewer opportunities for recovery.”
Poilievre recently said supervised consumption sites are “drug dens” that a future Conservative government would not fund and would seek to close. Poilievre said he would shutter all locations near schools, playgrounds and “anywhere else that they endanger the public.”
The sites are intended to prevent overdoses by allowing people to bring their drugs to use under the observation of trained staff. They also provide access to clean supplies such as needles to reduce rates of HIV and other diseases, and offer referrals to users seeking treatment options.
Poilievre said he believes “reasonable restrictions” can be put in place to prevent them from opening “in locations that endanger the community, or where there is community opposition.”
The first supervised injection site opened in Vancouver more than 20 years ago. There are now 39 supervised consumption sites in the country, according to Health Canada, and another 10 open applications.
DeMong said consumption sites significantly decrease the number of fatal overdoses, decrease disease transmission, serve as a bridge to treatment, and improve public safety and cleanliness. She said it’s important to correct “misconceptions and highlight the critical role that safe consumption sites play in harm reduction and community health.”
She said addiction “is a complex medical condition that requires a compassionate and evidence-based approach.”
According to Prairie Harm Reduction, the facility reversed 63 overdoses last year and 50 overdoses so far in 2024.
Jane Philpott, the former Liberal health minister and current dean of health sciences at Queen’s University, said on X that consumption sites “save lives. In fact the staff have attended to about 50,000 overdoses (and) medical emergencies since 2017, with no reported fatalities on-site,” adding thousands of people are alive because of access to such facilities.
Gord Johns, the federal NDP’s critic in Parliament on the issue, suggests shutting them down would only lead to people using drugs elsewhere.
“We know that if there is not a safe consumption site, the people that are using in this health emergency are using the bathrooms of local businesses,” he said.
“It becomes an absolute disaster in the bathrooms of small businesses, in our parks, in our schoolyards, in the back alleys, in the backyards of people in the community.”
DeMong said it’s vital that Poilievre and the Tories consider “the overwhelming evidence supporting the efficacy of safe consumption sites” and take part in constructive dialogue about solutions to the country’s opioid epidemic.
“Rather than perpetuating myths and misconceptions,” DeMong said, “let’s focus on policies that are rooted in compassion, science and a genuine commitment to improving public health.”
— With Postmedia Network and Canadian Press files
The Saskatoon Star Phoenix has created an Afternoon Headlines newsletter that can be delivered daily to your inbox so you are up to date with the most vital news of the day. Click here to subscribe.
With some online platforms blocking access to the journalism upon which you depend, our website is your destination for up-to-the-minute news, so make sure to bookmark thestarphoenix.com and sign up for our newsletters so we can keep you informed. Click here to subscribe.