THUNDER BAY - The provincial Associate Minister of Mental Health and Addictions says a multi-million dollar investment for 15 safe sobering beds in the city of Thunder Bay will create a low barrier access point to individuals struggling with addiction, but maintained safe consumption sites are not part of the province’s continuum of care model.
“There are over 30 organizations collaborating and building a continuum of care,” said Associate Minister of Mental Health and Addictions Michael Tibollo.
“This is a really important piece because it’s a low barrier access point for individuals to be able to come in and meet with people who are there to help guide them in a system we are creating that will build that continuum.”
At St. Joseph’s Hospital on Thursday, Tibollo announced the province’s investment of $2.9 million to St. Joseph’s Care Group for the creation of 15 safe sobering beds.
The beds will provide people under the influence of drugs or alcohol a safe space to sober up for up to 24 hours and connect with other treatment supports.
Increasing the number of safe sobering beds in the city was one of the recommendations handed down by the jury to the province at the conclusion of the coroner’s inquest into the deaths of Roland McKay and Don Mamakwa in November 2022.
“What this means for our community is people who are intoxicated by either drug or alcohol have a safe place to sober up,” said Janine Black, president and CEO of St. Joseph’s Care Group. “It gives us one more piece for a continuum of care for people living with addictions.”
A steering committee is still working on plans for where the site to house the beds will be located. According to Black, it is anticipated eight or nine beds will be ready by the end of March 2025 with the rest to become available in the months after.
“There is always room for expansion if funding comes through and we are always sure to be thinking toward the future needs of the community,” she said.
Black added these beds will reduce the number of people being taken to the emergency department, as well as ambulance wait times, and police responses to mental health and addiction calls.
“This is for people who may or may not be ready to move into treatment but they still need to be treated with dignity and we will be offering them a culturally safe and culturally informed space for them to do that,” she said.
The funding comes nearly one month after the Ford government announced it will be closing 10 safe consumption sites across the province as of March 2025, including Path 525 operated out of the NorWest Community Health Centre on Simpson Street.
Since Path 525 opened in 2019, it has reversed 424 overdoses and in July 2024 alone it had 1,266 client visits.
When asked about people in the city not being able to access the new safe sobering beds because they have died as a result of an overdose that may have been reversed at the safe consumption site, Tibollo said the Ford government is committed to a treatment and recovery model.
“If we are talking about people who have already died, there is not much we can do to reverse that,” he said. “Our government has been set from the very beginning of creating a treatment and recovery model in the province of Ontario that meets people where they are that provides low barrier access points and provides them the best opportunity to flourish and become normal, integrated people into the community.”
Tibollo added that it’s not the consumption side that is saving lives, but rather the treatment associated with going to a low barrier access point.
“It’s a misnomer to suggest that it is the consumption side that is saving lives,” he said. “What is saving lives is the continuum of care associated with low barrier access points.”
Harm reduction workers with NorWest Community Health Centres, and those with lived experience, say following the closure of Path 525 there will be more overdoses and more deaths in the city as a result.
Tibollo also pointed to the province’s investment into Youth Wellness Hubs beginning in 2025 to connect youth between the ages of 12 to 25-years-old with access to mental health, substance use, and health care services.
“We can’t continue to think we are going to get ourselves out of this problem by building more capacity to help people,” he said. “Yes, we need to do that, but we also need to find ways of reducing the demand on drugs.”
