WARM UP THOSE COLD, COLD HEARTS

How quickly people lose a basic sense of decency under the ostentation they’re keeping the little children safe. The latest: a Toronto neighbourhood is upset a warming centre opened in a community centre that happens to be attached to a school.

I could point out that, according to a CBC report, the centre opens at 9 p.m., long after elementary students are in bed, and its temporary residents depart back into the freezing cold early the next day. I could highlight how heartless it is to be so publicly concerned about the shared use of a public space. I could mention that we don’t know how many homeless people freeze to death on the streets every year in Toronto. But we’ve heard these antiNIMBY arguments before; every time a newly gentrified neighbourhood in any major urban centres discovers that – gasp! – there are still homeless people on our streets and sometimes they need a warm place to stay.

What’s really interesting about this particular case is the so-called public health argument one parent made about the discovery of needles near the site of the warming centre. Never mind the fact that the strip of the city east of Yonge and west of the DVP is often the site of discarded syringes. Sure there are pockets that seem pristine around the St. Lawrence Market or the factories converted into lofts, but the trouble that seems concentrated around Moss Park drips out into alleys and walkways throughout the area.

Yes, of course we should be concerned about used needles near places where children play. But the solution isn’t trying to shove the poverty and addiction out of sight.

The way to stop used needles from hitting our streets is to prevent people from hiding in back alleys to use. Safe injection sites, of which Toronto is set to open three, are an evidence-based solution. They’re also actually something the city, province and federal government finally agree are necessary. Public and medical opinion finally support mass harm reduction, and there will be fewer overdoses and fewer parents will feel the need to check the park before their children play. The injection sites have to go in someone’s backyard, and when they do, I hope it’s mine.