The Ontario government’s ongoing refusal to fund Sudbury’s supervised drug consumption site doesn’t sit well with Sudbury MPP Jamie West.
This past week, he had some strong words for Premier Doug Ford’s Conservative government over the lack of funding for The Spot in the wake of the site’s closure at the end of March.
Sudbury has one of the highest opioid-related overdose rates in Ontario, West said, and it provided valuable health care to the people who used it.
“The Spot provides healthcare. Healthcare is a provincial responsibility, and the Premier refused to fund it,” said West. “For a year and a half, The Spot operated solely on municipal funds and community donations while this provincial government sat on its hands. That is not leadership. The fact that the site remained open for 16 months without any provincial funding is remarkable and speaks to the community's strong support for its existence.”
West also highlighted the story of a Sudburian saved by the services provided by the city’s now-shuttered supervised consumption site.
"The Conservatives want people to believe these sites don't work, which couldn't be further from the truth,” he said. “The Spot saves lives. My constituent, James Gough, is living proof of that. He is a former addict, and he was saved by staff at The Spot when he overdosed. Without them, he would be another tragic statistic. Now, where are people like James supposed to turn to?”
The MPP took his criticism a step further and said each life lost to the opioid crisis due to lack of supervised consumption is on the province.
"Every life lost will be on this Conservative Government's watch,” West said. “This is a massive misstep and failure of judgment. Doug Ford needs to step up and protect the lives of Ontarians. We have concrete solutions that could do this today."
