Province's auditor says government hasn't met the needs of northern communities hit by opioid crisis

Ontario's auditor general noted in her annual report this week that northern Ontario communities have been disproportionately affected by the toxic drug crisis, with opioid-related deaths occurring at two to three times the rate of the rest of the province.

Shelley Spence said two northeastern cities saw the biggest jump in deaths, with Timmins seeing an 227 per cent increase and Sudbury a 184 per cent increase in deaths between 2018 and 2023.

"The ministry's actions to address the needs of these communities have been insufficient," wrote Spence in her annual report, presented Tuesday, Dec. 3.

Overall, Spence said the province's opioid strategy, developed in 2016, is outdated and failing to meet peoples' needs.

She addressed the issue of the forced closure of supervised drug consumption sites and said the province has not planned properly for the transition to proposed homelessness and addiction treatment hubs.

Her team reviewed internal ministry documents that warned of increasing overdoses and deaths and increased public drug use as a result of the site closures.

"They identified it as a risk, but they haven't identified their mitigation processes around that risk," Spence said.

The province is set to close 10 supervised consumption sites because they are too close to schools and daycares, and have also ruled that no new sites will be funded.

 "The supervised consumption sites currently have-- for the 10 that are closing-- have prevented 1,500 overdoses so there is a potential that those overdoses could occur elsewhere if they're not happening in the safe consumption site," Spence said during a news conference.

Health Minister Sylvia Jones said in August, when announcing the new hub model, that no one would die as a result of the transition.

Following the auditor general's news conference, Jones defended the switch to the hubs, which will not include harm reduction services, such as providing clean needles.

"Swapping a dirty needle for a clean one is not a pathway out and does not give people hope, and that is what we need to provide," she said.

A spokesperson for a harm reduction agency in Sudbury disagrees wholeheartedly with that philosophy.

Amber Fritz is the manager of outreach and education with Réseau Access Network, the organization that used to operate the city's supervised consumption site, until it was closed for lack of funding.

She said, on the contrary, needle exchanges do provide a pathway out of addiction by helping drug users connect to help.

"Harm reduction supplies can be used as a tool of engagement," said Fritz.

"Building those trusting relationships, getting to know people, and should they come to a time when they say, I don't want to do this anymore. I want to go to detox, I want to go to treatment. Then you already have that trusting relationship built with a service or built with a staff member because they didn't judge you."

Spence also found the ministry did not provide a thorough, evidence-based business case for the hub model and did not provide proper impact analysis or do proper consultations with all affected people.

"I think it's really horrifying that folks who use drugs were completely cut out of this process and weren't asked, what do you need? What do you want?" said Fritz

The auditor general is recommending the province develop a new comprehensive strategy to deal with the opioid crisis, and take steps to compile information and consult the public.

The province says it has accepted all of the auditor general's recommendations.