Sault Ste. Marie to look at adding more green space to help battle opioid abuse

City councillors in Sault Ste. Marie are supporting a motion to expand parks and green spaces in an effort to help address opioid abuse.

Recently, the city was featured in CTV's W5 program looking at opioid addiction.

Monday's city council meeting was the first time the program was acknowledged by city councillors.

Councillor Matthew Shoemaker put forward a motion to build more green spaces and expand parks in the city's Jamestown neighbourhood. He says he's not suggesting the problem will be solved by green space alone.

"Recreational areas are one service that are wholly within the municipal control," he said.

"Provision of health care obviously is provincial and we're advocating for a new treatment centre."

Shoemaker says the documentary showed there is a lack of recreational activity in Jamestown. He says there are other neighbourhoods lacking recreational facilities.

"Everyone that lives in that area lives more than 700 metres away from the nearest park," he said.

"It is a significant lack of recreational activities in the downtown core."

Shoemaker says he plans to put forward more motions in the future to address the issue and says he encourages other councillors to do the same.

"We have a responsibility I would say to our citizens and residents to make sure that we tackle it from every angle possible and this is one of those angles," he said.  

City councillors voted 8-4 to look at expanding parks and playgrounds in the neighbourhoods hit hardest by opioid addiction.