Hamilton church leader says supervised injection site 'reduced violence' rather than caused it

Ontario Premier Doug Ford said having a safe injection site is the "worst thing that could ever happen to a community." 

That hasn't been Rev. Mark Lewis's experience. 

Lewis is the interim moderator at St. Paul's Presbyterian Church in downtown Hamilton. Since 2021, the church has hosted a supervised injection site run by the Hamilton Urban Core Community Health Centre.

It's been "very moving" to see people in need get help at the site, Lewis told CBC Hamilton on Wednesday, and the congregation has welcomed the centre. 

But now, the future of the site is uncertain. On Tuesday, Ontario Health Minister Sylvia Jones announced the province is banning supervised injection sites from operating within 200 metres of school and daycares. As it is within 200 metres of at least one daycare, this means the St. Paul's site must close by March 31. 

• This Sunday, Cross Country Checkup is asking: How do you feel about supervised consumption sites in your community? Fill out this form and you could appear on the show or have your comment read on air.

CBC Hamilton contacted Hamilton Urban Core Community Health Centre for comment but did not receive a response prior to publication. 

The city of Hamilton refers to the location as a consumption and treatment services (CTS) site, where people consume "pre-obtained drugs in a safe, hygienic environment under the supervision of trained and authorized harm reduction staff." It is the only such site listed on the city website.

"We feel disappointed because we feel that the safe injection sites are effective," Lewis said.

In a news release on Tuesday, the province said it made the change in part to protect the safety of children and families. It said crime near supervised consumption sites is high and that in Hamilton, it's almost twice as high as the city overall.

In an email, Hunter Kell, the press secretary for the minister of the solicitor general, explained that calculation. Kell told CBC Hamilton that in 2023, there were 3,595 occurrences of violent crime per 100,000 people reported in Ward 2, the densely populated urban region within which the church sits. That's 195 per cent more than the 1,216 violent crimes per 100,000 people reported in Hamilton overall, Kell said.

Lewis said the provincial government is implying that the CTS is responsible for increasing violence.

"We don't believe that's the case," he said. "We believe the safe injection site has reduced violence significantly."

He said that the site launched during the COVID-19 pandemic and since then, homelessness and drug use has increased. But those problems will still exist without the site, he said. 

And, he suggested, violence and suffering may worsen if people don't have access to the CTS and the services it provides, which include addiction, family and career counselling.

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On Tuesday, Cameron Kroetsch, the city councillor who represents Ward 2, posted on social media, saying that "without these spaces, people will be forced to use drugs in public, and without a safe supply, more of our neighbours will die."

Following an unrelated news conference in St. Catharines, Ont., on Wednesday, Ford questioned the premise of CTS sites.

"I just don't believe these safe consumption sites," he said, adding that he's received "endless phone calls about needles being in the parks, needles being by the schools and by the daycares."

The province will not be funding any new CTS sites to replace the ones that close. Instead, it will invest $378 million in 19 new hubs focused on homelessness and addiction recovery treatment. 

Ford said these new hubs will be more helpful. "Giving someone an addict a place to do their injections, we haven't seen it get better," he said. 

Lewis said the community at the 191-year-old church would potentially be interested in hosting such a hub. He described the congregation as "a family of people who care for the people right in our neighbourhood and on our doorstep."

According to the city website, Hamilton Urban Core Community Health Centre started providing harm reduction services at a Rebecca Street location in 2018. In late 2020 or early 2021, Lewis said, talks started around hosting a CTS site at the church.

Lewis said the organization running the site has been an "exemplary tenant" and that the staff are "dedicated, faithful, and caring."

• This Sunday, Cross Country Checkup is asking: How do you feel about supervised consumption sites in your community? Fill out this form and you could appear on the show or have your comment read on air.