Kitchener council asks province to reverse CTS site closure

Kitchener city council is joining the fight to keep safe drug consumption sites open.

Council passed a motion, brought forward by councillor Debbie Chapman, calling on the Ford government to reverse its decision to close ten Consumption Treatment Services (CTS) facilities across the province, including the Kitchener location on 150 Duke Street.

As an alternative, the province introduced Homeless and Addiction Recovery Treatment (HART) Hubs, which offer similar supports without the safe consumption services CTS sites provide.

The move from Kitchener council comes less than a week after Region of Waterloo council passed a similar motion calling on the province to reconsider CTS closures.

“This is a healthcare issue and we need to recognize that,” Kitchener Mayor Berry Vrbanovic said during Monday’s council meeting.

Monday’s marathon meeting stretched past 1 a.m., with 24 delegates showing support for the motion.

Samantha De Dieu was one of the 24 delegates, urging council to back their plea.

“The CTS site provided a safe, judgement-free space where I was able to take precautions to avoid overdose,” De Dieu said in her delegation.

Ralph Schmidt said he’s overdosed at Kitchener’s CTS site “a handful of times”, all of which were successfully reversed.

“I’ve had to bury so many friends that were less fortunate than myself,” Schmidt said.

Michael Parkinson, with the Waterloo Region Drug Action Team, says seeing so many people show up to council was a powerful moment.

“You don’t often see people like that come out at a council meeting,” Parkinson told CTV News. “We think it made the difference.”

Council voted 10-1 in favour of the motion.

Despite the support, Ward 1 Councillor Scott Davey fears the decision will fall on deaf ears.

“All of those very important stories and information that we heard is not going to be heard by the people that actually make the decision,” Davey said during Monday’s council meeting. “You guys are quite literally screaming into the void here.”

Ward 10 Councillor Stephanie Stretch says everything is being done on a municipal level, and what happens next is up to the province.

“We’ve got to plan for the worse, but hope for the best,” Stretch told CTV News.

Currently, Kitchener’s CTS site on 150 Duke Street and Guelph CHC are mandated to close by March 2025.