An application to the province to open a safe injection/consumption site in Barrie last year was rushed and has since been scrapped following a change in provincial government which required a new application and a new process.
The people behind the new application say there will be more public consultation this time around under the application to the Progressive Conservatives than there was last year under the Liberals.
The Gilbert Centre applied in April 2018, under the Liberals, to bring an overdose prevention site (OPS) to the city, but then there was a change in government and that application died.
The new PC government tossed the former OPS model in favour of a new one, called Consumption and Treatment Services (CTS), which they say will be “wrap-around care” with a focus on improving access to treatment, while also allowing for more public consulation.
Matt Turner, harm reduction co-ordinator with the Gilbert Centre, the agency leading the application to open a CTS in Barrie, said there was a heightened level of urgency with last year's previous bid for the OPS facility.
“On the previous application, we engaged as best we could while working within a public health emergency,” Turner told BarrieToday. “There will be more opportunities for consultation in the new year on the new CTS application, with various avenues to engage with and speak to the application.”
The new application is expected in the coming months.
But last spring, City of Barrie officials had less than four days to review, consider and respond to the province on the Gilbert Centre’s OPS application.
Turner says it will be different this time with the CTS application and there will be more public discussions.
Public officials hope so, too.
Under the previous OPS application, Barrie Mayor Jeff Lehman said the limited timeframe provided “no chance for the city or the community to comment in a meaningful way, whether in favour or against.
“That’s not consultation,” the mayor told BarrieToday. “That’s a token effort.”
City of Barrie CAO Michael Prowse also says there was an insufficient amount of time to review the previous OPS file. He penned a letter to the ministry of health on April 16, 2018, outlining some of his concerns regarding a proposed OPS, which the city received on April 11, 2018.
“Given the complexity of municipal operations, bylaws and policies along with the community opposition surrounding overdose prevention sites, the response timeline is simply unacceptable,” Prowse wrote.
In a recent interview with BarrieToday at city hall, Prowse said there has still been little information coming into the city about proposed safe injection/consumption site.
“Turning something around in three days is not only unrealistic, it’s impossible,” said Prowse. “Because at that point, things were moving fast and we had more questions than answers.”
And despite an offer to sit down over coffee with a ministry official to discuss the matter -- which Prowse declined because he says it should be a matter for elected officials on city council -- it has been pretty much radio silence on the matter ever since.
“It kind of went silent,” said Prowse, noting he received a pair of follow-up emails from the health ministry, offering to meet and making it clear that nothing had been approved.
“I wasn’t really interested in having a coffee … and discussing the opioid epidemic, in so much as that wasn’t our issue. Our issue as a municipality is that we have an elected authority and they have been bypassed. That really is the beginning and the end of my statement on it," the CAO said.
Prowse said it appears the province can go ahead with an safe injection/consumption site with or without the city's blessing.
“I’d hate to describe it as out of the loop, but the province has, up until now at least, made it clear that they don’t require our approval and they aren’t really seeking our input," he said. "It would be nice if they did."
What level of consultation happens under the new CTS application, which of forthcoming this year, remains to be seen.
Prowse, a former city councillor himself, said he is "a purist," meaning he believes a discussion of such magnitude should come before city council to be debated.
“I have a difficult time understanding how there can be an issue in front of us that shouldn’t be in their purview in some regard,” he said. “Exceptional circumstances? I understand that, but I am never a big fan of muting public input and the elected officials being able to take a position, whatever that position may be. That is for them to decide.
“My letter was to outline that they had short-circuited our duly elected officials’ opportunity to speak for the residents,” Prowse added.
In his April 2018 letter, Prowse brings up "significant concerns" surrounding the 21 Bradford St. site, including its proximity to Morton House, an open detention centre for youth, as well as the YMCA’s at-risk youth services, which could be located across the street. (The YMCA recently announced plans to build a new facility near Dunlop and Bradford streets.)
He also requested more information on addressing community perception around safe injection/consumption sites, effect on emergency services and law enforcement, as well as zoning, bylaw and other technical matters.
Prowse said he has yet to receive any new data.
“I haven’t really seen anything additional that would help us with some of the questions and concerns we have,” he said.
And not much has changed since that letter was written in April 2018, either.
“In defence of the province (at the time), they were trying to move quickly,” Prowse said.
Prowse said there's no disputing there is a problem.
“The epidemic is real and the attempt to address it I think is sincere,” Prowse said.
However, when asked if he would support a safe injection/consumption site downtown, Prowse said he always takes a pragmatic approach.
“As in all things, I will rely on the experts," he said. "The experts are clearly able to present information and data which shows that we have a disturbing trend really right across North America.
"I think we do need to look at doing things differently. I don’t have an opinion and we haven’t been asked our opinion on this approach. It is one approach.”
