Editor’s note: The following is an open letter from local MPPs Jamie West and France Gélinas to Ontario Health Minister Sylvia Jones.
Today, we urgently call upon you and your ministry to allocate the crucial $1 million needed to rescue The Spot, Sudbury's supervised consumption site.
Réseau Access Network submitted this funding request back in August 2021, and now more than two years later, they find themselves in the final hour. The fate of this crucial facility hangs in the balance, and lives are at stake. It is imperative that The Spot remains open.
As you know, Sudbury bears the heavy burden of one of the province's highest opioid overdose death rates, exceeding the provincial average by a shocking threefold.
The Spot plays a pivotal role in harm reduction, preventing tragedies, and cutting down health-care expenses. The Spot prevents the overdose deaths of people who use drugs, and it keeps people out of hospital by reducing blood-borne disease transmission and providing pathways to other supports.
Support for The Spot, Sudbury's supervised consumption site, has come from such prestigious organizations such as CAMH; the Canadian Research Initiative in Substance Misuse; Dr. Emily Groot, the dedicated medical director of the SCS; Paul Pedersen, Sudbury's Chief of Police; Rev. Dr. Elizabeth Green and The Church of the Epiphany; and Dr. Penny Sutcliffe, the esteemed Medical Officer of Health for Sudbury and Districts.
As MPPs, we have been first-hand witnesses to the heart-wrenching tragedies of the opioid crisis in our community. It is deeply frustrating to witness the Conservative government and your ministry overlooking the overwhelming body of evidence demonstrating that a modest investment in preventive healthcare would save costs in the health-care system and, most importantly, SAVE LIVES.
Let's be clear: 112 people lost their lives in Sudbury-Manitoulin last year. That's an average of nine deaths every month. Each and every one of these losses could have been prevented. The Spot has already saved numerous lives and assisted countless individuals struggling with addiction in accessing the essential care required to overcome their challenges.
Minister, back in 2010, following over a year of exhaustive committee hearings where Ontarians shared the heartbreaking stories of how addiction tore their families apart, both you and MPP Gélinas signed the final report of the Select Committee on Mental Health and Addiction agreeing that funding supervised consumption sites would help people survive and get connected to other harm reduction services.
By neglecting this funding request for more than two years, you are undermining the very essence of that dedicated work.
The people of Sudbury urgently need you to fund this facility now.
Lives depends on it.
France Gélinas, MPP for Nickel Belt
Jamie West, MPP for Sudbury