A row of empty booths is seen in the InSite supervised drug consumption site in the Downtown Eastside neighbourhood of Vancouver, on Nov. 14, 2023.Jesse Winter/Reuters
Matthew Larventz lives in Ottawa and serves on the board of directors for Rideauwood Addictions and Family Services.
The Doug Ford government’s decision to close safe consumption sites isn’t just reckless – it’s a death sentence for Ontario’s most vulnerable. I know this because I’ve lost both my brother and father to the toxic drug crisis.
They didn’t just die from the drugs – they died because the stigma surrounding addiction kept them isolated and ashamed, away from the help they needed. Alone in their homes, they succumbed to overdoses that could have been prevented. Stigma killed them as surely as the drugs did. They were suffocated by society’s judgment.
Supervised consumption sites aren’t a luxury – they’re a critical lifeline. These sites are an essential part of the health care continuum for people struggling with addiction. Not a single death has occurred at a supervised consumption site in Canada. Yet, opponents often argue that these sites compromise community safety or enable drug use. These arguments are rooted in fear, not fact. The evidence is clear: supervised consumption sites save lives. They provide a safe space and connect individuals with the support they desperately need. Moreover, these sites serve as crucial entry points to treatment, offering a pathway out of addiction that many would not otherwise find.
My brother was a fighter. He battled his addiction daily, hoping for a chance at recovery. But stigma kept him isolated, and when he needed help the most, it wasn’t there. The Ford government is ignoring hard evidence and the advice of its own experts in favour of playing political games with people’s lives.
Mr. Ford, if you truly believe that shutting down these sites will make our communities safer, then you’ve forgotten the most basic principle of public health: you can’t save lives by taking away the very services that keep people alive.
If the Ford government follows through on this reckless decision, more families will be shattered. More people will die alone, in despair, hoping for more time to access overwhelmed treatment centres or join long waitlists for outpatient services. Those who want these sites gone need to ask themselves what the alternative is: more deaths in isolation, more broken families, more communities torn apart by grief?
Consider this: between January, 2017, and May, 2024, at least 446,825 individuals in Canada sought services provided by supervised consumption sites. In the same time period, these sites attended to 58,444 overdose incidents, preventing countless deaths. This isn’t just about closing sites – it’s about a government that’s more interested in optics than outcomes. Mr. Ford’s decision is a political maneuver in the war on drugs, a war that’s costing us thousands of lives.
I am still grieving, still processing the losses of my brother and father. But I refuse to remain silent. I know that speaking out against this policy will expose me to criticism and the ugly politics of NIMBYism. But I cannot let my brother and father’s deaths be in vain. Silence is not an option.
Every day, I hear people say they don’t recognize their city anymore, that they don’t feel safe downtown, or that things have gotten worse. These concerns are real, and the fear is understandable. But when Mr. Ford claims that his historic investments are improving things, we have to ask: How can both be true? If our health care system is truly better, why are ERs closing, and why can no one find a family doctor?
My brother and father didn’t even have access to basic care when they needed it most. Our health care system is in shambles, and instead of fixing it, we’re abandoning those who need help the most. If we want safer, more vibrant downtown centres, we need to invest in health care, bolster community services, and trust the frontline workers who know what’s needed – not close down life-saving services to satisfy a few loud voices.
Mr. Ford claims he wants to expand treatment options for those facing addictions. That is a laudable goal, but it cannot stand alone. If he were to sit down with me, I would tell him about my brother’s love of hockey, his passion for his Ottawa Senators, and his hope that they would one day bring home a championship. I would tell him that my brother was one of the strongest people I’ve ever known, and that if he had been at a supervised consumption site on the day he overdosed, he might still be here today. I would plead with Mr. Ford, and with others in power, to reconsider this decision. These sites are about more than harm reduction – they are about saving lives, keeping families together, and giving people a chance at recovery.
Ontario is at a crossroads. We can choose compassion and save lives, or we can choose stigma and watch more of our loved ones die. I know which side I’m on. Premier Ford, which side are you on?