The long-debated location for a proposed supervised consumption site (SCS) in Barrie is in the final stretch and will soon head to city council for its endorsement.
The results of an online survey are in and virtual tours regarding the potential site are complete, so now that information is being reviewed. An announcement is expected soon on a preferred site, which will be sent to city hall.
Although final approval for an SCS falls to the Ministry of Health, the province has said it wants input from municipal politicians.
An SCS provides a safe space and sterile equipment for individuals to use pre-obtained drugs under the supervision of health-care staff. Consumption refers to taking opioids and other drugs by injection, smoking, snorting, or orally.
The four locations under consideration are 110 Dunlop St. W. Unit 4, 11 Sophia St. W., 19 Innisfil St. (also known as 80 Bradford St. Unit 940), and 192 Bradford St.
Dr. Lisa Simon, associate medical officer of health for the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit and chair of the Simcoe Muskoka Opioid Strategy (SMOS) steering committee, said the Canadian Mental Health Association's Simcoe County branch and the health unit have reviewed the preliminary results from the survey and neighbourhood consultation.
“We had a meeting (on Wednesday) with the SCS site selection advisory committee to share these preliminary findings and receive their feedback on the four site location options,” Simon told BarrieToday in an email.
“Based on all of these inputs, we are close to making a final decision on a location to move forward to Barrie city council for endorsement, and then onwards for the provincial and federal applications," she added.
No timeline was provided for how long that could take.
There are 19 groups involved with the site selection advisory committee, one of which is Safe Barrie.
In a release issued this week, Safe Barrie members described themselves as "a diverse group of residents, business owners and community stakeholders who care deeply about the City of Barrie.”
Safe Barrie has put its support behind the 19 Innisfil and 192 Bradford locations, with the Downtown Barrie BIA also supporting the latter site.
The Gilbert Centre, which has been providing programs and services for people affected by AIDS in the region for 25 years, also has a seat on the advisory committee. The Gilbert Centre's harm reduction manger, Sarah Tilley, told BarrieToday the preferred site for an SCS is simply where it is needed most.
"We will support what the consensus is, but what we hope is that any SCS is put where drug use is most prevalent," Tilley said. "The majority of help needed is in our downtown core and any site that is brought in to help needs to be close to that area."
The local health unit says that between January and mid-September 2020, there were 94 confirmed and probable opioid-related deaths in Simcoe Muskoka — of which 47 were in Barrie. The city’s rate was twice as high for this time period in 2020 to date compared to the average of 2017-19, according to the health unit.
The search for a location for an SCS began in September 2019, when an advisory committee was struck.
The application for an SCS is part of an action plan by SMOS, which is a large partnership of agencies, organizations and individuals working to address the crisis of opioid use and overdose rates in the region.
For more information on the SMOS Action Plan and related work, visit www.preventod.ca. For more information on SCSs, including the local SCS application history and the recent work of the advisory committee, visit www.smdhu.org/SCS.
