City council approves supervised injection sites, asks for text & walk ban
Posted July 14, 2016 6:51 am.
Last Updated July 14, 2016 9:28 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Toronto city council has approved three supervised injection sites at existing downtown health-care facilities.
Council voted 36-3 Thursday to support the services aimed at providing a safe and hygienic environment where people can inject pre-obtained drugs under a nurse’s supervision.
There are about 90 supervised injection sites worldwide, and Vancouver is the only other city in Canada with the service.
Earlier this month, Toronto’s board of health unanimously accepted a recommendation for three small-scale supervised injection sites.
The report cites a 2012 study called the Toronto and Ottawa Supervised Consumption Assessment, which concluded that Toronto would benefit from supervised injection services that are integrated into existing health-care services.
Joe Cressy, city councillor for Toronto’s Ward 20 and the chair of the Toronto Drug Strategy, welcomed the support for the sites as a “critical tool” in addressing deaths from overdoses.
“Toronto as the first municipality in Ontario and the largest city in Canada to step forward and say, ‘We’re ready, it’s time’ will hopefully tip the dominoes for more evidence-based policy across the country,” he said.
Before the sites can be established, they need provincial approval and a federal exemption from Section 56 of the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act. Toronto Public Health spokeswoman Susan Shepherd said she anticipates supervised injection services will be available some time in 2017.
Council also agreed to ask the province to ban people from using handheld devices while crossing the road. Coun. Frances Nunziata’s motion passed 26-15. It was part of a larger road safety plan passed, which sets an ambitious goal of reducing the number of road fatalities to zero over a five-year period.
Beside the text and walk ban, the plan calls for reducing the speed limit on a number of downtown streets.
In a lengthy debate on Wednesday, council voted 28-15 against reviving plans for a seven-stop light-rail transit (LRT) line in the east end. Councillors also voted in favour of the Downtown Relief Line and studies into other possible transit projects, including extending the Sheppard subway line and linking Downsview to Yonge-Sheppard.
A motion to extend the Eglinton Crosstown LRT 17 stops to the University of Toronto’s Scarborough campus passed unanimously.
A digital billboard in Leaside is also up for debate, with many residents petitioning against the proposal. They argue lit signs belong in Yonge-Dundas Square, but not their residential community.
Follow that debate here.
The city is also considering banning fees to register for child care waitlists, and ending the bylaw that prohibits street hockey.
Related stories:
Scarborough subway extension to proceed despite ballooning costs
Transit a hot topic in heated Ward 2 byelection debate
Scarborough subway vs. LRT debate at council pushed to Wednesday
