In a 7-4 vote, Windsor City Councillors voted to reaffirm their support for the location of a safe consumption site at 101 Wyandotte Street East.
No delay in opening and no disruption in service.
Thank you to Council for the 7-4 vote support of my motion to reaffirm our endorsement of a CTS site at 101 Wyandotte St. E.We move forward. Onward and upward.
— Fabio Costante (@FabioCostante) February 27, 2023
Ward 2’s Fabio Costante introduced a motion to reaffirm council’s endorsement for the site after a failed one from Ward 6 Councillor Joanne Gignac called councillors to support the Windsor Essex County Health Unit’s endeavour, minus a commitment to provide it with $35,000 a month in operating costs.
That would only be a risk if the province does not approve the site.
The province has never denied provincial funding for a safe consumption site.
Gignac pointed to difficult budget deliberations this year and the prospect of escalating costs for key infrastructure projects. She told the council, and those in the council gallery, she supported a safe consumption site but couldn’t put her name behind placing the financial risk on taxpayers.
"At this point, there are so many concerning issues in this city that to shoulder the financial burden municipally, that rightfully should be shouldered by the province, is just not something that I feel we can move forward with," she said.
Ward 1 Councillor Fred Francis argued the risk was mitigated.
"The health unit is telling us it has sufficient funds -- if we get federal approval in March, to take operations to mid-summer when we expect to get full provincial funding," he said. "And, it is very unlikely we would not get provincial funding in mid-summer. In the unlikely case that does happen -- the funding from the city would be minimal at best to take us to the end of the year, in which case there will be new provincial funding for 2024."
Her motion failed by a vote of 7-4.
Councillor after councillor stated they felt the risk was mitigated and would support opening the clinic even if the province failed to approve it.
"For us to consider rescinding that support -- would be irresponsible and reckless given where we are with respect to the opioid epidemic," said Ward 9 Councillor Kieran McKenzie. "I think we would be failing the people in our community if we were to let this fall to the wayside or be delayed."
"What could be more important than saving people's lives?" added Ward 10's Councillor Jim Morrison.
While voicing support for Costante's motion, Francis also defended Gignac.
"It's not a matter of one side versus the other side," he said. "What Councillor Gignac put forward is perfectly warranted. Her concerns and her arguments are 100 per cent true."
Only one councillor voiced opposition to the site itself, and that was Ward 4 Councillor Mark McKenzie.
"I think there are people who think that just because I vote one way that I don't care or that I'm not compassionate or that I don't care about people's lives," McKenzie said. " Public health officials in Alberta reported that safe consumption sites reportedly did not reduce overall overdose deaths or opioid-related emergency calls. I fully support the treatment side of things. I don't think anyone should ever be turned away from treatment centres, and unfortunately, that is what's happening -- I'd rather see us focus on treatment."
He called the site "addiction maintenance."
The safe consumption site could open once Health Canada signs off on an inspection of the building.
The inspection is expected in March.
An earlier compromise reached between the health unit's board of directors and city council, which formed a task force headed by Ward 3 Councillor Renaldo Agostino to find an alternative site, will go ahead. The search will not hinder the application to the province so long as the location on Wyandotte Street East is endorsed by the municipality and operates in the interim.
The health unit has invested $775,000 in renovations at the Wyandotte Street East clinic.
It also said 86 people died of overdoses in Windsor-Essex in 2021, a number that is expected to increase to 116 by 2026.
