TORONTO — The Superior Court has granted an injunction that will allow 10 supervised consumption sites to stay open, including Path 525 in Thunder Bay, that were ordered to close by the Ford government until a full court challenge to the order can be heard.
“Like British Columbia and Alberta, the current opioid crisis in Ontario is exceptional,” Justice John Callaghan wrote in his decision Friday. “The closing of SCSs [supervised consumption sites] will cause significant harm across the province, including the loss of life.”
Callaghan wrote that legally, he had to take the government at its word that the law will address “public disorder … thus protecting children and youth.”
But the public interest argument for allowing the sites to stay open, at least temporarily, was stronger, he wrote.
“Exempting the existing SCSs will have a substantial public benefit of preventing serious health risks and deaths which, in my view, outweighs the harm caused by the continued public disorder,” he wrote.
“...the government does not have a monopoly on the public interest,” the justice added.
Callaghan noted the constitutional issues raised in the case are “complex,” and his decision will take time.
“I have reserved my decision on the Charter and other constitutional issues and the judgment will be released in the coming months.”
Hannah Jensen, spokesperson for Health Minister Sylvia Jones, reiterated that the government’s “priority is to protect children and families from crime and dangerous public drug use occurring at drug injection sites located near schools and daycares.”
Under the Community Care and Recovery Act, 10 SCSs within 200 metres of schools and child-care providers would have been forced to close no later than March 31, as the province transitions to an abstinence-based “HART hub” model.
Advocates, led by The Neighbourhood Group, which operates a supervised consumption site in Toronto’s Kensington Market, challenged the law under the Charter right to life and security of the person.
The injunction will last until 30 days after Callaghan makes a decision on that challenge.
The Neighbourhood Group CEO Bill Sinclair said that while the ultimate fate of his site is still in the court’s hands, Friday’s decision gave him hope.
“We’re very happy,” he said, adding that his group never came up with a closure plan because they were optimistic from the start.
“We're very thankful for the court, and we're very grateful to all of our wonderful legal team, for all the interveners who spoke up and provided the court with useful information,” Sinclair said.
Harm-reduction worker Zoë Dodd said the clients of the sites she’s spoken to are “really elated.”
“People are cheering and crying and also wondering, what next?” Dodd added.
Despite the government refusing to fund sites that continue to offer harm reduction, Dodd said she’s hopeful about their ability to stay open.
“Harm reduction has received very little funding forever, and we used to run a lot of programs on very little money, and so organizations can still continue to do that,” she said.
Callaghan wrote that the sites that are not slated to close are in a "precarious position," since they can be forced to shutter if a school or daycare opens within 200 metres of them.
"In cities with more than one SCS, such as Toronto, the burden on the existing SCSs would be significant. The loss of each additional SCS will exacerbate an already tenuous situation. Obviously, the same goes for the SCSs which are the only one servicing their communities," he wrote.
He noted that since 2016, more Ontarians have died from drug overdoses than from COVID-19.
“SCSs in Toronto reported 2,296 overdoses at sites in 2023 (out of a total of 94,872 client visits), with no deaths. No one has ever fatally overdosed at an Ontario SCS,” he wrote.
Sinclair said he’s reached out to Jones, the health minister, to offer to work together.
“This is a problem that we can't solve alone, and no one can solve this alone,” he said.
