As election looms, does Toronto’s addiction strategy need overhaul?
· Toronto Sun
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A political advocacy group says the City of Toronto isn’t doing enough about addiction – and it has the social media numbers to prove it.
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ABC Toronto is calling for stronger policies related to mental health and drug use in the hope that mayoral and council candidates in this fall’s election will commit to doing more.
ABC believes the city should create “rapid-response biohazard cleanup teams” to handle syringes, add 400 recovery beds and commit to clearing encampments within 48 hours, and eliminate user fees for people who are already on the fringe.
The group put its plan forward on Thursday, days after posting a social media video that garnered 300,000 views and more than 1,000 comments on Instagram. Much of the video is made up of footage of a lone man shadow boxing on a city street.
“The entire way we think about this has to change,” Kelly Aizicowitz, ABC Toronto’s executive director, told the Toronto Sun .
“I feel like a lot of what has happened, it’s like Band-Aid solutions. I know the safe injection sites have been shut down by the province, but that is one step. It doesn’t necessarily get somebody into detox and into rehab.”
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Aizicowitz said the emphatic reaction on social media says to her that conflicts tied to homelessness and public drug use have become “a universal Toronto experience.”
“That’s just not good for anybody – not good for the people who are bearing witness to it and certainly not good for the people who are in the throes of addiction.”
‘Should feel safe’
Asked about ABC’s plan, one of Toronto’s perceived mayoral front-runners, Brad Bradford, said he had pushed for a 48-hour timeline on encampment clearing as a city councillor. However, he didn’t speak to other recommendations by ABC.
“Torontonians should feel safe in their own city, safe walking home, safe on transit and safe in the parks where their children play,” Bradford said in a statement released by his campaign office. “As mayor, I will deliver the leadership Toronto needs to make it a city we can be proud of.”
The other big name in the mayoral race, incumbent Olivia Chow, did not respond to a request for comment from the Sun .
Aizicowitz emphasized that any reform of the city’s response to addiction needs to start with “a compassionate approach.”
“There needs to be a plan for how we keep people from living in tents. I wouldn’t want any of my family members living in a space like that,” she said.
“If there is a safe shelter bed or recovery bed available, let’s get people out of these encampments, with transportation, with case management, identification, support and give them secure storage as well – because we can’t just leave people in these tents for the summer.
“That’s not compassion, that’s just abandonment of people who are very vulnerable and need help.”
While ABC wants to make addiction a ballot box issue in October, Aizicowitz said she’s concerned about the “first impression” tourists will get of the city during the World Cup.
“What I have yet to hear from anybody, including the Mayor,” she said, “is, well, what is the plan to ensure that the TTC is safe and to make sure that when people are walking on the streets that they’re not going to be accosted by somebody who is having a drug-induced meltdown?”
“You only get one chance to make that first impression,” she added, “and then you make that first impression with one person, they go back home and tell all their friends, ‘ Don’t go to Toronto, it’s not safe. ‘ ”