Kingston council OK's conditions for continued care hub funding
ICH must devise safety plan, create community consultation group
City councillors in Kingston, Ont., have voted overwhelmingly in favour of requiring the city's Integrated Care Hub (ICH) to come up with a safety plan and create a community consultation group in order to continue receiving municipal funding.
The decision comes just one day before the organizations that run the hub announced they planned to resume supervised drug consumption services at the site.
Councillors approved the motion to attach conditions to the $500,000 the ICH collects annually by a tally of 12-1 during Tuesday night's meeting.
"We have to recognize that these services are essential, that they save lives. We also have to recognize that there has been a negative impact on the community there," said King's Town representative Greg Ridge, who brought the motion before council.
"This is not about punishing the ICH, this is not about punishing the staff, this is not about punishing the people using these services. This is about trying to help everybody."
The centre has remained closed and fenced off for more than a month following a series of violent attacks at a nearby encampment that left two men dead and a woman seriously injured.
The hub houses Kingston's only supervised drug consumption (CTS) site, which has also been shuttered since the attacks on Sept. 12. It's set to resume operations from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., seven days a week, starting Thursday, according to a statement from the partners that run the site.
"The CTS component provides essential life-saving and life-changing services for individuals who use substances," the statement said, noting fencing around the centre will remain in place to "manage the flow of participants."
Other ICH services including counselling, meals and showers will remain closed for now.
Ridge's motion recognized the important role the site at the corner of Montreal and Rideau streets plays, while also pointing to safety concerns raised by those who live around it.
He said the attacks were part of the impetus for a new focus on safety, but added he's really hoping for a "holistic approach."
Along with the safety review and community consultation, the motion directs city staff to work with ICH staff to collect information on the services provided there since 2020.
The motion also calls for data to be collected from police, paramedics and the fire department on the number of visits they've made to the area compared to other parts of the city.
Ridge described those steps as a way to "create trust" in the community.
Province 'looking for a reason to kill this,' councillor says
Coun. Jeff McLaren, the lone member of council to vote against the motion, said he viewed the conditions as "extra work" for ICH staff who are already overburdened.
"It seems to me it's a way to get them to do a worse job by overwork, and I think we're contributing to that," said the Meadowbrook–Strathcona representative.
McLaren also pointed to the Ontario government's move to shut down drug consumption sites, including one in Ottawa, near schools and child-care centres.
The councillor said collecting emergency call data as proposed by the motion could give the province an excuse to shut down the ICH.
"I think they're looking for a reason to kill this," McLaren. "And I think this is going to help."
Partners say motion matches priorities
In a statement shared before the council meeting, the organizations that operate the hub said between April 2023 and March 2024 it diverted 947 emergency room visits, while the number of opioid-related deaths also dropped.
The site served 470 individuals during the same period, 70 per cent of whom were connected to addiction, mental health and housing services, the statement added.
The operators said many of council's recommendations align with their own plans for reopening the ICH, particularly in terms of safety and collaboration, describing those as "key priorities."
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