Ontario Premier Doug Ford Asks Ottawa to Pause Approval of Safe-Supply Sites

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (L) and Ontario Premier Doug Ford pose for a photo at the Ontario legislature in Toronto on July 5, 2018. (The Canadian Press/Chris Young)

Ontario Premier Doug Ford is asking Ottawa to pause approval of safe-supply programs in the province.

Mr. Ford made the comments in a letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on May 17.

“I’m now asking that you also extend the requirement for provincial support to ‘safe supply’ sites, which are approved solely and unilaterally by Health Canada,” the premier wrote.

“Due to Health Canada’s siloed approval process, the province is completely in the dark about where these federally approved sites are operating and the quantity of controlled and illegal substances they dispense. This is frankly unacceptable.”

The premier’s letter came the same day that Health Canada denied a request by the City of Toronto to decriminalize possession of controlled illegal drugs for personal use.

In a May 17 statement, Ya'ara Saks, federal minister of mental health and addictions and associate minister of health, said she “has determined that it does not adequately protect public health and maintain public safety. This includes concerns with feasibility and ability for law enforcement to implement the proposed model, protection of youth, and lack of support from key players including the Province of Ontario.”

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The City of Toronto made the request to Health Canada in January 2022, stating that criminalizing drug use hinders people’s ability to access services and that criminal records make it difficult to get a job and a place to live.

“Decriminalization of the simple possession of all drugs—along with the scale-up of prevention, harm reduction, and treatment services—is an effective way to address the public health and public safety harms associated with substance use,” the request said.

Mr. Trudeau responded to Premier Ford’s letter during an unrelated news conference in Manitoba on May 17, saying that the federal government wants to work in partnerships to tackle the drug crisis and that “no order of government can do this alone.”

“That’s why we’re focused on working with people on the front lines, whether it’s the province provincial health systems or at the cities to keep people safe,” he said in response to a reporter’s question about the letter. “So we will continue to work in a science-grounded way of dealing with this horrific tragedy that has hit so many people.”

‘Failed’ Decriminalization Plan

Minister Saks’s decision was announced days after Ontario’s Health Minister Sylvia Jones made it clear the province did not support Toronto’s application.

“We are not interested in the failed decriminalization experiment anywhere in Ontario,” Ms. Jones said in a May 16 post on X, formerly Twitter.

“Instead, we are focused on investing in key services and building safer communities for everyone. We urge Toronto to rescind their misguided application.”

Ms. Jones also attached a letter in the post, jointly written with Ontario Solicitor General Michael Kerzner, addressed to the medical officer of health for the City of Toronto, Eileen de Villa, saying the province was 100 percent opposed to the decriminalization proposal.

“Under no circumstances will our government ever support your request, which would only add to crime and public drug use while doing nothing to support people struggling with addiction,” the letter said.

Meanwhile, Ontario’s chief medical officer of health supports decriminalization for the province, according to his 2023 annual report released in March.

“Decriminalization of simple possession of unregulated substances for personal use reduces or eliminates the risk that people will be arrested simply because they use drugs,” Dr. Kieran Moore wrote.

“Decriminalization of simple possession also allows the justice and enforcement systems to focus their resources on stopping the organizations and individuals profiting from unregulated drug sales rather than on people who use substances whose needs would be better met in the health system.”

The joint letter by Ms. Jones and Mr. Kerzner pointed to British Columbia’s “disastrous” example of decriminalization, saying it demonstrates the policy does not work. The B.C. government received federal approval on May 7 to recriminalize possession of controlled substances in public spaces.

Premier Ford noted this in his letter.

“An earlier review conducted by their provincial health officer also indicated that the diversion of controlled substances obtained at these facilities was a common occurrence, including to trade for more lethal and harmful drugs like fentanyl,” Mr. Ford wrote.

“It also indicated that diversion is contributing to higher youth opioid use rates and has led to individuals in successful treatment services relapsing due to easy access.”

In the joint letter, Ms. Jones and Mr. Kerzner indicated that the province will be making changes to manage the current 16 safe-supply sites in Ontario, largely in the southern part of the province.

“We will also begin enacting enhanced accountability measures for existing consumption and treatment services sites to ensure that the safety and wellbeing of the public is protected,” Minister Jones and Mr. Kerzner wrote.

The Canadian Press contributed to this report.