Province says timeline unclear for decision on Windsor's supervised consumption site

Ontario's minister of mental health and addictions is defending his government's review and pause on approvals for supervised consumption and treatment sites (CTS).

However, Michael Tibollosays it's a "very unfortunate situation" that locations like Windsor's are caught in the middle. He wasin the cityon Friday for a youth wellness initiative.

SafePoint officially opened in late April with federal approval.

In August, the Ministry of Health paused all of the CTS sites for review because of a fatal shooting near a location in Toronto.

While the doors to the downtown Windsor site remain open, where long term funding will come from remains a question.

"A review is a responsible thing to be doing," said Tibollo, adding his government believes there'sa want and need for standardized terms ofhow all Ontario treatment centres are operated.

"I really think that the outcomes that we will see from those studies are going to ensure public safety and provide the support necessary for anyone needing help like low barrier access points to getting treatment is extremely important."

As for a timeline related to the review process and where Windsor fits that into the equation Tibollo says he wishes he had some answers.

"We're working diligently to get that response back so that we know what we need to do to ensure that we can have these locations or locations like these organized and set up for people to get the help they need, where they need it."

Windsor's CTS site costs around $700,000 to run per year. And those costs, for now, are primarily being picked up by the local health unit.

Its board has appealed to the ministry of health looking for a timeline on the reviews and has only promised to foot the bill temporarily.

In October, health unit board chair Fabio Costante told CBC News all options were on the table.

"If we don't get any certainty from the ministry, the board of health is going to have to make a decision on Nov. 20 in light of that," he previously said.

"And I can only say to you that the board of health will make a responsible decision for our community, for our stakeholders."

WATCH |Here's why it's taken 7 years to open Windsor's first supervised drug consumption site:

Here's why it's taken 7 years to open Windsor's first supervised drug consumption site

1 year ago

Duration 3:20

Despite years of red tape and community pushback, Windsors first supervised drug consumption site, SafePoint, opens on Wednesday. CBC Windsor News at 6 host Katerina Georgieva takes a closer look at the timeline leading up to its opening, as Windsor deals with a growing drug epidemic.

"We get calls about the consumption and treatment sites that indicate that something more needs to be done. Some have implemented security, that wasn't something that was originally looked at," said Tibollo.

Harm reduction is part of the Ontario PC party'scontinuum of care, he says, with their priority being treatment and recovery for everyone no matter where and when they need it.

"We're in the process, we're just waiting now for the review to come back from the individual that's been charged with it. And we're all anxiously awaiting and I don't have a specific date."

Unclear timelines is 'unacceptable,' says NDP MPP

Lisa Gretzky says Tibollo and the province's comments surrounding the pause on CTS funding applications is unacceptable.

The Windsor West NDP MPP says there's a human cost at stake by not having clear timelines and funding answers for cities and towns across Ontario.

"There are incidents that we see happen on the TTC in Toronto on a daily basis they don't shut down the entire transit system while they're investigating," Gretzky said.

"We have liquor licenses that are being issued to bars. They don't stop issuing those liquor licenses because a bar in another jurisdiction had an incident."

According to Gretzky, whether it's detox, withdrawal and rehabilitation, or housing or primary medical care, people's lives can be saved by connecting them immediately with the support and services they require.

"I know that the usage of SafePoint has grown exponentially. The number of people that are comfortable coming forward getting connected to health care, primary health care, mental health supports, housing supports. Those numbers are growing at a very quick rate here in Windsor-Essex."

She says to have to shut it down because of a lack of funding would be a mistake.

"Those are lives that are at risk of dying by overdose or ending up on the street, sleeping, homeless."