Mayor, councillor urge pop-up injection site to fold its tent
Public health facility operating nearby so officials want land returned to park use
Mayor Jim Watson and RideauVanier Coun. Mathieu Fleury say it’s time for the volunteer-run supervised injection tent in Lowertown to fold now that Ottawa Public Health is operating a legal injection site nearby.
“We found what was a very reasonable compromise, a safe site that is run by medical professionals literally two blocks away, and I believe now is the time for that volunteer group to go and work with public health and give the park back to the children and families in the Lowertown neighbourhood,” Watson said Wednesday.
Overdose Prevention Ottawa has indicated it’s not pulling out of Raphael Brunet Park.
Watson said the bylaw department will work with Ottawa police to figure out what to do.
“Taking over that park” for an unsanctioned supervised injection site isn’t fair to the community, the mayor said.
Q Why don’t the cops just pull up stakes?
A Chief Charles Bordeleau said earlier this week that police are waiting for “direction and input” from the city regarding the tent.
Watson and Fleury said they legally can’t direct the police force to do anything. They’re leaving it up to law enforcement to come up with a plan.
“We’ll leave it to their best judgment,” Watson said.
While politicians could give instructions to the bylaw department, since those staff report through the city management structure, Watson said the practice is letting “bylaw do their job without micromanaging them.”
Q Will the mayor visit the tent?
A “I’m not going to condone an illegal activity,” Watson said. “I don’t think it would make any sense for me to see something that I know to be illegal.” In other words, he won’t be visiting.
Q What does Fleury think?
A He said he fears the police chief is “playing both sides of the coin” by not acting on the tent. He doesn’t understand what Bordeleau is waiting to hear from the city.
“I don’t like the police playing a political game,” Fleury said. “There is no political interference in the governance. The chief is the ultimately decider. We oversee budgets and strategic directions.”
Fleury said he also doesn’t understand why the tent keeps operating when the health unit is running a legal injection site nearby. He doesn’t want to visit the tent. “I don’t want to polarize the issue. It’s very polarizing to bring a politician down,” Fleury said.
Q How many people visited the health unit’s supervised injection site on the first day?
A Ottawa Public Health said eight people visited the Clarence Street clinic on Tuesday.
Q Is the mayor open to continue running the Clarence Street site when the Sandy Hill Community Health Centre is ready to open its site?
A “I’ll leave it up to Dr. Levy to give me his best advice,” Watson said. “I trust his expertise in terms of the most appropriate locations for supervised injection sites. We would have to obviously secure funding from the province because we don’t have the dollars, nor do we have the responsibility for these sites.”
Q What is the mayor’s current position on supervised injection sites?
A “I haven’t changed my original overarching position. I still think we need to press the other levels of government to get more money into treatment,” Watson said.
“We don’t have enough detox beds, we don’t have enough treatment beds. We’re making some progress with the expansion of the Dave Smith Centre in West Carleton. We have the Maison Fraternité in Vanier.
“We continue to push the other levels of government to ensure there’s not only the ability for the governments to support the supervised injection sites, but to also increase the number of detox beds and treatment beds for the people suffering addictions.”