Local advocacy group urges province to reverse decision to close CTS sites

After more than 40 overdoses and multiple suspected overdose deaths in one week, a local advocacy group is urging the province to reverse its decision to close supervised consumption sites.

Last month, the provincial government announced many CTS sites will be forced to close, including the ones in Guelph and Kitchener, due to concerns of safety.

Waterloo Region’s Integrated Drug Strategy reported 41 suspected overdoses and three suspected overdose deaths between Sept. 17 and Sept. 23.

Kitchener’s CTS site found high potency fentanyl and other illicit substances in drug samples taken over the last week.

Barbara Hill, the team lead with Supportive Housing Advocacy Waterloo Region said safe consumption sites offer better supports that keep people with addictions alive rather than dispersing to use substances without supervision. She called the province’s decision to shut the sites down a mistake.

“We have a humanitarian crisis out there. Just a crisis, we can’t seem to get ahead of the curve. It just seems illogical to close safe consumption sites that saves lives and we have proof of that in waterloo region over the past five years,” Hill said.

Hill said their group has delivered a letter to the province in the hopes of keeping drug-related deaths from happening.

The people who run the Kitchener CTS site told CTV they’ve reversed more than a thousand overdoses on-site since 2019, without a single death.

A motion went to regional council on Wednesday night, calling on the province to reverse its decision.