Guelph mayor calls out public drug use in city

The Mayor of Guelph is speaking out about drug use in public spaces.

“Open-air drug use in our public spaces is ridiculous. Our cities are in decay because no one will step up & put an end to this madness. Public spaces should be free of criminal activity, be safe & welcoming. We need urgent help @JustinTrudeau & @fordnation. Hazel McCallion was right. Fed’s have the money, Province makes the rules & cities get all the problems,” Cam Guthrie posted Monday on X.

"Look, we all have compassion for people that are struggling with these issues,” he told CTV News on Tuesday. “But there also has to be… respect and dignity for others that are using these public spaces.”

The mayor is calling on both the provincial and federal governments to provide more services and better enforcement.

One issue, he points out, is the Controlled Substances Act of Canada.

“It has language in there that makes it very difficult for our front line officers to be looking into criminalizing people that have addictions, which is a good thing,” he explained. “You don't want to be criminalizing people, but there has to be some sort of reference point here.”

Guthrie said he receives daily complaints about public drug use in the city, especially at pavilions inside of parks and at sports fields.

"Mothers pushing their strollers with kids that are getting meth smoke blown in their face. I've got Little League baseball diamonds that are being taken over by people doing drugs all around as the kids are trying to play. As kid’s birthday parties are at parks, these issues are playing out.”

Despite the availability of addiction services, Guthrie said many people take a while to use it.

“We offer help. We offer help and we offer help. And so sometimes that struggle takes a long time for people to understand that that hand is out from either the city, the county, or other health care supports,” he explained. “We also need to have some public order in how these people, unfortunately, are going to be in our public spaces, interacting with other people that are trying to go about their day.”

Riverside Park is one place Guthrie has heard complaints about, but residents who spoke to CTV News had a different experience.

“I haven't seen anybody using drugs in this park,” said Elena Achim.

“I really don't see them using it in public. I've seen what the effects of it [are] in public afterwards,” Paul Taylor said.

“When I'm out and about with my son, I haven't witnessed drug use in parks and we're at parks quite regularly,” said Maggie Phelan. “I do see it downtown from time to time.”

After seeing the mayor’s post, some took offense with Guthrie’s take.

“I think the mayor's tweet really just perpetrated and added to the stigma that people experiencing struggles with drug use are already facing. So that's what I really didn't like about it,” said Phelan.

“How dare you say that people with drug addiction aren't worth helping. You're making them feel less than they already have,” Patricia Beresford said.

“I am not convinced that Cam [Guthrie] is any more sincere about helping those people than he is about sincerely engaging with the issues of basic humanity that drug addiction raises,” Kyle Fitzsimmons said.

“We like the mayor. We voted for the mayor. He has done good things for the city. But drugs, no, nothing,” Achim added.

An advocate for people living in poverty says many choose to set up encampments close to grocery stores or other services, so if they have drug addictions they will use close to where they live.

“You're depressed. You don't care anymore,” Bobbie Proctor explained. “You're at the point where you're on the edge that: 'Well, I'd rather die or be high, than have to live with my reality, because of how horrible it is.' The sad fact is, yeah, we end up with people doing stuff like that, using in the parks because of the overall problem is just so extreme that they're just they're done. And it's unfortunate. It's not something that I would like to see either. Of course, nobody wants that around their kids or anything like that. Who would? But we need to help them.”

“I think if you attack the problem at the source – mental health – if you do more there, yes, it'll help it all the way down the line,” said Taylor.

Government responses

CTV News reached out to Lloyd Longfield, the Guelph MP, to get his reaction.

In an email he said: “I know the city has been working with the county on addressing the opioid crisis as well as mental health, drugs and addictions. I also know Guelph Police Services has been involved in working with the city on enforcement of bylaws around public spaces. The federal government has been supporting the efforts of the Guelph Community Health Centre safe supply program and has worked closely with the partners in the city on getting people the treatment and support that they need.”

The Canadian Ministry of Mental Health and Addictions said all partners need to work together to address illegal drugs.

“Health Canada directly provided funding to the Guelph Community Health Centre to help connect vulnerable people to care,” their statement read. “Through the new Healthcare Bilateral agreements, we have provided more than $3 billion to Ontario to improve health care in the province, including $1.2 billion to expand access to quality mental health and substance use and addiction services.”

The province is also committing funding services.

In an email to CTV News, Hannah Jensen, a spokesperson for Ontario’s Minister of Health said: “Our government is focused on solutions that protect people’s safety while continuing to invest historic amounts of funding in treatment services and other core services, like housing. Through this year’s historic budget, our government announced an additional investment of $396 million over three years for mental health and addiction services. This includes $124 million to support the Addictions Recovery Fund.”

She added: “The recent disastrous examples from British Columbia and other jurisdictions have shown that decriminalization does not work. Instead, it encourages dangerous behavior in public spaces, victimizes innocent people, and undermines law enforcement’s ability to protect our communities.”