Furey: We Can Fix This!

The Issue: There is Nothing “Safe” About “Safer Supply” Drug Sites

Here’s what’s wrong with the way things are:

The drug crisis in Toronto is out of control, with hundreds of deaths from drug toxicity reported every year. And now, someone has lost his life at the hands of an addict in the heart of our City.”

But City Hall wants to expand the number of so-called safe injection sites, while asking Ottawa to decriminalize all drugs for personal use. According to the CBC, Toronto “updated that request last month, laying out a model that goes further than what Health Canada approved in British Columbia” – and we all know how that’s turning out.

Now, though, a major new investigation published May 9 in the National Post has uncovered convincing evidence that so-called “safer supply” sites are actually making the opioid crisis worse, as taxpayer funded opioids are being resold to the black market, where – completely uncontrolled – they are causing untold more human misery and deaths through record numbers of toxicity overdoses.

Here’s what I’m going to do to fix it:

I am calling for the immediate cancellation of two proposed new, City Hall-sanctioned injection sites, and for the resources to be diverted to mandatory treatment facilities. And as Mayor, I will demand that Ottawa scrap its so called “safer supply” scheme in favour of a mandatory treatment program for our citizens struggling in the clutches of often-fatal addictions. In addition to requiring mandatory treatment, I will:

• join Queen’s Park, backed by all other provinces, in pushing for reform of lax federal bail and parole rules
• end all COVID-related restrictions on youth and other shelters to enable greater capacity, and
• mandate lighting in dark streets and alleys

Here’s what the benefits will be for the people of Toronto:

Safer streets and neighbourhoods. Lower overall policing costs. Less stress on our health care system. But most importantly – saved lives.