The Ontario government is being urged to provide funding for Windsor's SafePoint harm reduction site.
Over two dozen people rallied Friday outside Windsor-Tecumseh Conservative MPP Andrew Dowie's office on Tecumseh Road East.
Members of Windsor's CTS Advocacy Coalition want see SafePoint reopened at the corner of Wyandotte Street and Goyeau Street in downtown Windsor and provincial funding provided for its operation.
While the rally was taking place, members of the coalition also met inside with Dowie.
He spoke to the media following his meeting and says he appreciates the passion that he heard.
"As I reiterated, I've shown my public support for getting funding for addiction recovery services and that will not stop. I reiterated that point and wanted to make sure that was well understood," he says.
The Windsor-Essex County Health Unit paused operations at SafePoint on Jan. 1 due to a lack of sustainable, long-term funding from the Ontario government.
In early October 2023, the province announced it was pausing the approval of new supervised consumption and treatment sites due to an ongoing review which will be followed by a Critical Incident Review report.
Marion Overholt, a member of the CTS Advocacy Coalition, says they are concerned about the continuing delay and want the province to act now.
"Because delay means SafePoint services are not available and we will be losing lives. We will be having people in our community suffer needless overdoses because the vital services of SafePoint are not available," she says.
Dowie says he wants a prompt and speedy resolution to the review to get a go forward direction for this service.
"Understanding the challenges that other communities have faced with service delivery. Let's resolve those challenges and ensue that those that are trying to recover, and get a better life themselves, have the supports they need to get there," he says.
A rally is taking place outside the office of Windsor-Tecumseh MPP ?@AndrewDowieMPP?. Protestors are calling on the province to provide funding to reopen SafePoint, Windsor’s consumption and treatment services site. #cklw pic.twitter.com/nbBqf5qhqq
— Rusty Thomson (@RustyThomson800) March 8, 2024
SafePoint is designed to provide supervised consumption while also offering a variety of services such as the distribution of harm reduction equipment, drug checking services, and connections to mental health, primary care, and social services.
Overholt calls the delay a mix of sadness and frustration because lives are being put at risk.
"When people are struggling with an addiction, they need wraparound services, they need a variety of support. No one else is providing the service that SafePoint did and that's why we need it restored," she says.
Before being forced to close at the beginning of 2024, SafePoint operated for a period of eight months, recording a total of 1,257 client visits amongst 248 unique clients.