A crisis and an opportunity

Hamilton’s chance to solve poverty, crime while building our communities

July is a special time of year. For many of us it marks the start of summer, of Canada day, of time with friends and family. As for myself, July means I can celebrate another year of sobriety. Though I’m grateful for these seven amazing years, things are not getting better for many. Last year, I was part of the group that successfully lobbied the Wynne Government for $200 million in funding to get overdose prevention kits into the hands of addicts and those treating them. This year I’ve spent more time with folks at addictions services, in emergency rooms and honestly way too many funerals.

In light of the increased overdose deaths, growing fears about fentanyl, meth, the scores of dangerous drugs in our communities, with prescription drug abuse reaching epidemic levels, we need to work together to strengthen our police services. Problems with drug use are beginning to impact every corner of our city. Nowhere is left untouched. To be a city that truly serves all our people we need to enable our police to do the work that benefits everyone with support, resources and consistent funding. Drugs and the violence that accompanies them are pouring into our cities from across the border.

By increasing the police’s ability to investigate and respond to information about drug trafficking we make it harder for those substances to wind up in the hands of our neighbours, family and friends. Increasing policing does not mean that individual drug users will be particularly targeted; it means the opposite. It will allow our police to shut down drug distribution and those who benefit financially from the addictions of others more efficiently and more effectively.

Yet we cannot drop this problem solely on the doorstep of the police. This is not a police problem, it is our community’s problem. We need to grow every single one of our institutions that can solve this problem. In our community, housing is not affordable. Not having a place to live is a major factor in why crime and drug addiction exists. Poverty births crime. Affordable housing creates an environment that inoculates us against crime and drug addiction. As many in our community recognize the need to work with our police, so do many think it is vital that we better engage with folks like Indwell, The Good Sheppard, YWCA, and other affordable housing providers to ensure all people have access to a safe place to live.

As a community we need to break through stigma to succeed. Just as we must treat drug addiction, we must reinvest as a municipality and as a province in every single one of our institutions that care for those with mental health illnesses — as this is exactly what addiction is. As CAMH says “Mental health is health.” Reaping the benefits of increased police support will only occur when we provide adequate treatment for those who need it. We must increase our support for triage centres, short and long-term treatment for addicts. Though we have great folks working in our hospitals, in our doctors’ offices and in our other community supports, in this time of crisis, we must support them even more. As we support our police, we need to also ensure that we support the workers who team with them; our doctors, our nurses and our addiction workers.

To do this we need to shift our system and spending. While most ER visits are mental-health driven, many if not most do not reach the threshold of emergencies. Having a strong community means that everyone gets the care that they need, which for those struggling with addiction or mental health conditions does not mean an ER visit. Urgent care centres designed to treat acute but not life threatening mental health/addiction concerns leave our ERs less busy for real emergencies while addressing the very real and often ignored concerns of the people they treat.

This is a missing link in our healthcare system and one that we need leadership at City Hall and Queen's Park to bring this to fruition.

We can do better. We must do better.

Alex Bishop is a former biologist turned Affordable Housing Developer, an advocate for mental health, a proud Hamiltonian and even prouder father of two children. He can be reached at alex@uncovercommunitydevelopment.com