Cambridge byelection: Candidates differ on thoughts surrounding consumption and treatment site

A potential consumption and treatment services site in Cambridge gets mixed reviews from the people running in the ward 7 byelection.

The debate over a CTS in the city has been controversial, with city council putting in place an interim bylaw saying no sites could go in the core areas of the city. Ward 7 does not include the core areas within the bylaw.

While the city is still moving ahead with selecting a site, that process is on hold until after a new councillor is elected and sworn in for ward 7.

We asked the candidates running in the byelection for their thoughts on a CTS in the city. Eight of the nine candidates responded.

Cody Botelho did not respond to requests for an interview.

Cole Boland

"Personally, I don't believe that will work in Cambridge. We are such a fragmented city with three downtown cores," Cole Boland said of a CTS.

He says while a CTS could go in Galt, that wouldn't help the people in Hespeler or Preston who would use the service.

Connie Cody

"I would like to advocate for solutions that lead more towards education, prevention and long-term rehabilitation. I think we need on-demand treatment for addiction recovery while respecting community safety," Connie Cody said.

She says that means council will need to advocate to the provincial and federal governments to fund more treatment options.

Manuel da Silva

Manuel Da Silva says if he had a family member of close friend struggling with addiction, "I would want them to be able to get the right supports."

"I would prefer it not to be in a core area," da Silva said, but he says he also doesn't want to sound like he's against having a site in his backyard. "I think that is a positive and can be a positive for the community."

Scott Hamilton

Scott Hamilton says he'll "stand with council" and said putting a site in a core area "can have a detrimental effect on businesses, on residents."

He said one problem with the debate in the city is that there's a lot of misinformation being spread.

"I think the role of council really has to be to spread the most accurate, up-to-date information that's been provided by medical and social service professionals," he said.

R.J. Johnston

R.J. Johnston says it seems to him the city has decided to move forward with a site somewhere, and if they don't make a decision, the region will.

"I think it's relatively moot at this point," he said.

He says he knows people who work at the Kitchener site and "there are a lot of positive things that are coming out of that."

Sandra Lemieux

Sandra Lemieux says the city needs to ensure families and children are kept safe, especially people walking in the downtown cores.

"I'm pretty adamant that it can't go near one [of the core areas] because who would want to go into, say, a Tim Hortons or any kind of public washroom and find a needle on the ground," she said.

"We need to move the safe injection site to a place where it's not going to affect the public in the sense that it's affecting them now."

Vandan Patel

Vandan Patel supports putting a CTS where it's needed. He says the reason he's running for council is because he watched a man overdose and tried to give him CPR

He says he wants to have open discussions with the province to have a site set up in the city.

"We cannot ignore the people. We have to be together and we have to find the solution," he added. "Human is the first. Humanity is the first."

Simon Weresch

Simon Weresch says the city needs some kind of site, but whatever the site looks like, it must include vital wraparound services.

"We do definitely need some significant services for people that are struggling, and we aren't getting that at the moment," he said.

He said the city needs "creative solutions" to deal with the opioid crisis and that could include a housing-first strategy.