Committee to cut funding for drug strategy at end of the year

EDITOR’S NOTE: A previous version of this article incorrectly stated regional council made the decision to cut funding to the drug strategy.

More changes are coming to addiction and treatment services in Waterloo Region.

Back in May, the steering committee of the Waterloo Region Integrated Drugs Strategy (WRIDS) decided it would stop funding the strategy at the end of the year, a decision that advocates for those with addiction issues believe will be harmful.

The municipality lost its consumption and treatment services (CTS) site in March, after the province defunded harm reduction programs in favour of Homeless and Addiction Recovery Treatment (HART) Hubs. Those hubs do offer treatment resources, but nothing in the way of harm reduction, like safe supply or CTS.

The province has in the past, threatened to pull HART Hub funding if municipalities decide to offer harm reduction services on its own.

Advocates believe defunding WRIDS combined with the loss of the CTS site, is putting those with addiction issues at risk.

But some don’t see it that way.

Rhonda Nicholls, Director, Strategy, Performance and Partnerships, Region of Waterloo Public Health, said the decision to stop funding WRIDS was not made lightly.

“After much consideration and several conversations, the (WRIDS) steering committee determined that the work that had historically been led by the steering committee was best undertaken by new working groups and initiatives that had been created over the last year.”

Nicholls went on to say, the move would eliminate redundancies.

“Given that much of work pertaining to the four pillars of our drug strategy is actively occurring through these new tables and initiatives, the steering committee concluded that the resources of everybody at the table would be most effectively utilized in supporting the existing efforts,” she said.

The four pillars are: prevention, treatment, harm reduction and enforcement.

Michael Parkinson, a volunteer with Waterloo Region Drug Action Team (WR DAT), said that while WRIDS had its issues, it was still helping people.

“The drug strategy became very much corporate, top-down, rather than bottom-up up community-based. That’s part of the story why they’ve been so ineffective, ” he said. “But, the point here is, the region is pulling the funding and replacing it with nothing.”

Parkinson went on to say nobody wants to see people overdosing and dying; they want real solutions.

“People in Waterloo Region are sick and tired of it. That’s why we continue to speak for the dead and protect the living. And, we hope that one day governments at all levels will act with the urgency a public health emergency requires.”

Parkinson points to the disparity when it comes to dealing with other issues of public safety or health. He referenced specifically traffic safety, where there are never-ending campaigns against impaired or distracted driving.

According to a press release from WR DAT to 570 NewsRadio, the coroner reported approximately 150 overdose deaths in Waterloo Region in 2024, while Regional Police reported 17 deaths on area roadways.

“Why is that number so much lower?” asked Parkinson. “It’s because there is a plan. There is leadership and there are dedicated resources, acting with urgency to keep Waterloo Region roads safe. We just don’t see that with drug-related issues at both the local level and the provincial level.”