2024-08-23 22:34:03
Riley Bisson doesn’t know what she would do if the consumer center in Toronto’s Moss Park neighborhood closed. “I’m going to be in a catastrophic situation where I have no chance,” the trans woman said. However, closure of the site is indeed taking shape as the building is set to be demolished to make way for an apartment complex.
Ontario announced this week that it will order 10 regulated consumption sites to close by March 31, 2025. Offer ends before deadline.
It may also be difficult, if not impossible, to move the center elsewhere in Toronto because the license that allows the regulated consumption center to exist is attached to a specific location. Therefore, a new license is required as if it were a new center.
Ontario, on the other hand, plans to ban new centers from opening in the province in a bill tabled in the fall.
Sarah Ovens, who helped establish the Moss Park center seven years ago, was shocked by the fact that the center would be replaced by an apartment complex. She said it looked like everything had been converted into apartments.
Moss Park center not among 10 centers announced [cette semaine]but if nothing changes, it will be forced to close due to the decision [du gouvernement]she continued.
This is my safe zone, explains Riley Beason.
dangerous approach
Jess Lyons, a nurse at the Mospark Supervised Consumption Centre, said the Ford government’s decision to close all 10 centers within a year will significantly increase the risk of death in the province.
Ms. Lyons was shocked to hear the news. She suddenly felt sick.
His colleague Erin Turgedi noted that the entire community of drug users and those who help them thought we were making progress, but now we are back to square one.
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Mospark Neighborhood Consumer Watch has been providing services to the community for many years.
Photo: Radio-Canada / Evan Mitsui
Moss Park ward councilor Chris Moise, who is himself committed to harm reduction, noted that even though there were no longer regulated consumption centres, people would continue to take drugs.
He said they would use drugs in our parks, alleys and children’s play areas.
To those concerned about the existence of supervised consumption centers and the crime and drug abuse associated with them [je dis que] Diana Chan McNally, a Toronto harm reduction worker, explained that these people are not leaving the communities they know.
As of this writing, the real estate project’s promoters had not responded to Radio-Canada’s questions.
With information provided by Sarah Tomlinson
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