Overdose prevention groups urge health minister to declare emergency

Volunteer-run overdose prevention sites in Ottawa and Toronto are calling on OntarioHealth Minister Eric Hoskins to declare a public health emergency over the current opioid crisis, just like the province did at the height of the SARScrisis in 2003.

Ontario's efforts have not been urgent or proportional to the crisis underway.- Joint news release

Overdose Prevention Ottawa and the Toronto Overdose Prevention Societyare also asking the province to enact a ministerial order to support the creation of such pop-up sites.

"An emergency declaration and ministerial order will expedite overdose prevention measures on an emergency basis," the groups said in a jointnews release Thursday. "Overdose prevention sites, among other measures, are desperately needed in Ontario municipalities."

The sites one in Ottawa's Raphael Brunet Park and one in Toronto's Moss Parkare currently illegal, but have so far been tolerated so far by theirmunicipalities.

Thousands of visits

The Ottawa site openedAug. 25 when harm reduction advocatespitched tents in the Lowertownpark. Since then, they said they've received more than 1,100 visits.

Toronto's site,established Aug. 12,has seen more than1,300 visits.Organizers of both sites say they've been able to intervene inmultiple overdoses.

Sanctioned sites have since opened in both cities.

• Ottawa's city-run injection site opens Tuesday
• Toronto's new interim supervised injection site opens its doors

"Ontario's efforts have not been urgent or proportional to the crisis underway," thegroups said in the news release, citing last year's 865 opioid-related deaths, which was a 19 per cent rise over the previous year's toll.

Group says councillor wants to shut sitedown

Also Thursday, Overdose Prevention Ottawa issued a separate news releaseasking supporters of its pop-up supervised injection site toattend a rally it's hostingCity Hall at 12:30 p.m. Friday.

They said Coun. Mathieu Fleury "is calling for police and bylaw to shut us down immediately," and that they wantsupporters of the site to ask Fleury to back it.

"We've been open for 34 nights. In 34 nights we've had over 1,100 visits. Yet Fleury refuses to visit the pop-up overdose prevention site in his ward. Instead he is calling for police to shut us down," the news release states.

In response to criticism on social media, Fleurywrote that the opioidcrisis is a health issue, and that's why Ottawa Public Health opened a sanctioned site on Clarence Street ahead of the opening of a site at the Sandy Hill Community Health Centre.

He also wrote he's not threatening to arrest anyone, saying the city doesn't control the police.

"I have asked [for Overdose Prevention Ottawa]tocollaboratewith Ottawa Public Healthon[the] transition, as committed," he wrote on Twitter.