Interfaith Grand River calls on province to keep CTS sites open

Members of Interfaith Grand River (IGR) are calling on the province to rethink closing Consumption and Treatment Sites (CTS) including the one on Duke Street, downtown Kitchener.

The organization sent an open letter this week to ask Premier Doug Ford and MPPs to support CTS sites and provide more funding for addiction treatment. It was signed by 15 local leaders of different faiths, including one of the founders of IGR, Rev. Brice Balmer.

“We’ve gotten behind, in terms of how we deal with drugs and alcohol in our community,” said Balmer.

IGR is hoping the province will keep CTS sites open, after a decision in August was made that will close ten in March.

“When you go to a Safe Consumption Site you begin to trust people. A lot of people who are struggling with addictions have been traumatized. They don’t trust people anymore and they don’t trust institutions anymore. They see the stigma against them. As they go to the safe consumption sites they begin to talk with people, people help them, they don’t die, they can check their drugs.”

Balmer added they will be upset if they have to watch the CTS sites close, “It has an effect on the community and the individuals using it.”

IGR is calling on the province to create a regulatory framework that allows CTS sites to stay open and provide harm reduction. They are asking the government to address safety concerns like proximity to schools or daycares with better investments that get to the root cause. They want to keep those issues from spreading around the region as well.

“We will be very, very upset if they have to close and we appreciate the region and city standing to keep the safe consumption site open,” said Balmer.

“IGR would just encourage the region and people to get move involved and try to help the people that are struggling with homelessness and mental health.”

The open letter was sent to Premier Doug Ford, Deputy Premier and Health Minister Sylvia Jones, Catherine Fife (MPP Waterloo), Mike Harris (MPP Kitchener-Conestoga), Aislinn Clancey (MPP Kitchener Centre), Jess Dixon (MPP Kitchener South-Hespeler), and Brian Riddell (MPP Cambridge).