Safe injection advocate dies of overdose before Toronto approves 3 sites

Two weeks ago, BrooklynMcNeil, 22,who had for years advocated for safe injection sites, was found dead in an alley from a drug overdose.

Toronto's board of health voted unanimously todayto approvethree recommended sites.

But not beforeMcNeilfulfilled her purpose, her mother,ThiaMassaro, told CBC Radio'sAs it Happens.

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"Sometimes I think, 'Was this your message? That you had to really show this happens?' I battle with it,"Massarosaid.

"I honestly don't think she was meant to be here long. She had to live what she had to teach, and in order to help people she had to feel it."

Toronto city councilstill needs to ratify the board's recommendation with its own vote.

Safe injection is already legal in Canada as long as the federal government grants approval, according to Bill C-2.Federal Health Minister JanePhilpotttold the CBC in March thatsupervised injection sites are among a number of strategies the government has put forward to cope with drug abuse and overdose deaths.

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"From a public health point of view it makes a tremendous amount of sense," she said. "Sites likeInsitein Vancouver and others like them have the possibility to save countless lives."

Federal exemption required

But to earn Ottawa's sanction, the proposed sites must have the endorsement of the city's chief of police andsupport from local businesses and the municipality.

Council's vote next week will determine whether that last condition is met.

Assuming it votes in favour of the safe injection clinics, Toronto will then apply to the federal government for the necessary exemption to the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act. Ottawa has already approved two such clinics in the Vancouver area:InSiteand the Dr. Peter Centre, which had already been operating for more than 10 years.

McNeildied on June 22 andwould have turned 23 on Tuesday.

She moved from Thunder Bay, Ont., to Toronto several years ago to study animation atHumberCollege, but her addiction led her to set aside her formal education, her obituary says.She also struggled with mental health issues and homelessness.

JohnMacDonald,McNeil'scaseworker, was asked to speak at the board meeting Monday by her father.

"From her death he would like to see something positive,"MacDonaldsaid. "If there was a safe injection site I think she would still be alive. If there was a safe injection site, people wouldn't be using in an alleyway."

Now up to city council

The board of healthrecommended three sites, which the city plans to ask the province to fund,including the Toronto Public Health office nearDundasand Victoria streets, the SouthRiverdaleCommunity Health Clinic and the Queen West-Central Toronto Community Health Centre.

On Monday, Ward 20Coun. JoeCressyapplauded the three communities for supporting the sites.

"In the Queen West neighbourhood, I have experienced a community that's come forward and said, 'Yes, in my backyard.'"

The board of healthreport also suggests establishing community safety advisory committees and coming up with a system foractive monitoring and evaluation.

In the past 10 years, overdose deaths in the city have gone up by more than 70 per cent, according to a 2015 report by the city.The safe injection sites wouldprovide hygienic spaces for users to inject drugs under a nurse's supervision.

Both Mayor John Tory and Toronto police Chief Mark Saunders support the creation of the sites, but critics say that they encourage drug use.

For those who suggestthe sites could make neighbourhoods more dangerous,MacDonaldhad a blunt response.

"If I was in the neighbourhood, I'd be concerned about people using in the alleyway," he said. "That's where Brooklyn died."

Drug user helped others get clean

Friends saidMcNeilwas turning her life aroundas a mentor for youth and an advocate for people with drug addictions.McNeilspoke of those issueswhen she addressed the Toronto health board in March, urging it to create spaces similar to Vancouver'sInSiteclinic.

McNeil'sfriendAkiaMungawas injectingmethamphetamineuntil seven months ago, but saidshe helped him get clean.

"Just because you were hurt by the world doesn't mean you have to continue to allow the world to hurt you," he said, fighting back tears."[McNeil]taught me to not do that."

At the March board of health meeting,mumsDUfounder and facilitator Donna May had the chance to meetMcNeil, who was the last to speak to the group.

On Monday, May was overcome by emotion, recalling her own daughter, who lost her life to a flesh-eating disease contracted as a result of her addiction.

"Since her passing, all I've done is advocate for harm-reduction measures that will save the lives of other children," May said of her daughter. "It's already too late for me, but it's not too late for them."

Friends and familyare asking for donationsinMcNeil'sname to an organization calledEva's, which supports homeless youth in Toronto.

Massarobelieves safeinjection sites were her daughter's purpose, one that she fulfilled before she died.

"That was her fight,"Massarosaid of the sites. "She'd feel she had a great part in this, and I think she'd be overwhelmingly happy."

A celebration ofMcNeil'slife will be held inThunder Bay on July 25.