As work continues behind the scenes to secure permanent funding for the safe injection site, the city could be funding it until the end of 2023.
At its Jan. 17 meeting, Timmins council approved extending its financial support for Safe Health Site Timmins (SHST) for an additional six months. The City of Timmins is also endorsing the 21 Cedar St. N. location for the permanent site and lobbying the federal government to increase the healthcare funding it transfers to the provinces to do more to help municipalities with the opioid crisis.
Safe Health Site Timmins opened in July 2022 as an Urgent Public Health Needs Site (UPHNS). It's a space for people to use previously obtained drugs by injection, orally or snorting under the supervision of trained medical staff. People can also stop in to use the bathroom or to connect with other services.
SEE: Safe injection site could mean fewer needles downtown, 911 calls
The UPHNS is a temporary solution to bridge the gap while work continues to secure a permanent supervised consumption site.
While a permanent facility is funded provincially, there is no funding from upper levels of government for temporary sites, which are needed to show that the facility will work. The sites need federal approval but are funded provincially.
The City of Timmins committed over $1 million to run the temporary site until July 2023. The funding approved this week is for an additional $515,000 on a monthly basis of $85,833 per month.
There was a healthy discussion at the council table on the three motions that focused on SHST.
Coun. Kristin Murray questioned if the group has considered a scenario where the provincial funding doesn't come through.
While CAO Dave Landers said he could follow up with the Timmins Area Drug Strategy (TADS) group, he explained that they did spend a "considerable amount of time" with the parliamentary assistant and were “greatly encouraged that they should expect support”.
“I don’t think that there has been a contemplated exit strategy from this or an expectation of failure for approval. The understanding of the group was that federal approval would equal provincial funding because there was provincial funding set aside,” Landers said.
Mayor Michelle Boileau said Timmins MPP George Pirie is also a champion for the site and 'has offered to walk this application to the minister themselves to make sure this gets approved."
The location of the facility, across from city hall across from the downtown core, is also a concern for some councillors.
Coun. Steve Black was the mayor when the original Living Space site opened in what's now SHST and he recalled living through some of that feedback from residents at the time.
While he supports the "goals and desires" of the facility, he struggles with the location. He also believes the city should be pushing for full-service treatment, mental health and addictions rehab centre instead.
He acknowledged that the professionals believe it's the right location, but said he's not hearing the same from residents.
"The majority of residents that I’m talking to have a significant challenge in the locations of the facilities that we’re operating and the impact on the surrounding area and the change in circumstances to our downtown area. And whether some disagree or agree that the two are interconnected or not, a fair portion of our community does,” he said
Coun. Cory Robin supports the facility.
“We have a problem, it’s an opioid problem. It’s an addiction, it’s mental health, it’s a medical condition where you cannot function without it so people are killing themselves by accident,” he said.
Robin said it's important to move ahead.
“This is going to cause some pain in our city, of course, but the pain we’re causing the city is to reduce the harm. And the harm is death,” he said.
The temporary site is operated by Timmins and District Hospital, the proposed permanent site will be operated by the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) Cochrane-Timiskaming branch.
