THUNDER BAY — Canada’s federal minister responsible for managing Ottawa’s response to addictions and mental health issues was in the city Friday to announce funding for several local initiatives.
Among the organizations receiving money are the City of Thunder Bay for a partnership with NorWest Community Health Centres to have outreach workers visit vulnerable populations to offer drug checking services, instead of people having to take them to NorWest.
“Every day we're seeing the consequences of the toxic illegal drug supply that has swept across the country,” said Ya'ara Saks, the federal minister of mental health and addictions, at a media event held in the lobby of Thunder Bay city hall.
“Too many — and I really say this — too many Canadians who lost their lives to this tragic and unrelenting public health crisis that has touched the lives of too many families, friends, neighbours and loved ones.”
The city-NorWest partnership received about $280,000 said Rilee Willianen, Thunder Bay’s encampment response lead.
“Addressing substance use is a public health and public safety measure,” Willianen said. “As we know, the toxic drug supply is taking lives and drug checking is a way to help to mitigate some of the risk associated with that.”
The money came from the federal government’s Emergency Treatment Fund, a $150 million pot that municipalities and First Nations can apply to for money aimed at initiatives around rapid response to issues related to toxic drug use and overdoses.
The initiative comes amid the looming closure of Path 525 — the safe consumption site operated by NorWest Community Health Centres that also provides drug screening services. The Ford government mandated that supervised drug use sites within 200 metres of schools and childcare centres must close by the end of March.
Their replacement, the proposed HART Hub model, won’t allow supervised drug use.
“We have spoken to our provincial counterparts about it and raised our concerns,” Saks said. “We know that safe consumption sites save lives; we know that over 60,000 overdoses across this country have been reversed thanks to the services provided at safe consumption sites.”
“We know how important they are in (communities) to save lives, but we also know that we need to engage with (the) community so that everyone feels safe and supportive for those who are struggling.”
“Sometimes ideology gets in the way of actually practical solutions,” said Patty Hajdu, the MP for Thunder Bay-Superior North, who used to be the head of Shelter House, an organization that has had a needle exchange program.
“(For instance), why do we want to really reduce HIV and hepatitis C?” she asked. “First of all, they're terrible diseases and they're really difficult to treat — really expensive to treat … but also, the lower the rate of any disease in your community, including HIV and hepatitis C, protects the general population.”
“That's why it's called public health.”
Saks said that Beendigen will also receive over $190,000 for a new community mobile response unit in Fort William First Nation.
The federal government also announced on Friday that the regional chapter of the Elizabeth Fry Society received over $838,000 in funding for a substance use and addiction support services project that will operate out of two transitional homes in Thunder Bay.
That money, according to federal officials, is from Health Canada's Substance Use and Addictions Program.
