Windsor councillor wants city to withdraw support for supervised drug consumption site

The Windsor city councillor for the downtown area wants council to reverse course on the proposed supervised drug consumption and treatment services (CTS) site — despite a slim majority of council giving the project its blessing last spring.

Ward 3 Coun. Renaldo Agostino has put forward a motion asking council to rescind its support for the site, a drop-in facility where people can use drugs under supervision, learn about harm reduction and get access to social supports.

"My issue is with the location of it. I believe we need one [a CTS site], desperately," Agostino said in an interview on CBC Radio's Afternoon Drive.

Agostino wants to see city administration and the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit (WECHU) report back on other options to provide the service, including a mobile unit and including the site within the Housing and Homeless Help Hub.

Agostino said he's heard privacy concerns from the community about people having to access the site straight from Wyandotte Street as opposed to entering the site from within an existing service provider.

Agostino's motion, which will be addressed at Monday's city council meeting, states that there is "ongoing and significant concern" about the impact of a supervised consumption site at the proposed downtown location at the corner of Wyandotte Street East and Goyeau Street.

It goes on to point out that the site is close to a McDonald's and other businesses, including a hotel, as well as the entrance to the Windsor-Detroit Tunnel.

A manager at the Quality Inn and Suites told CBC News that she wants to see people get help but opposes the location.

"Our establishment has always been totally against it," said Daniella Maceroni, director of sales.

"We're not against the [safe] injection plan. We're against the location because we already have a big major issue and this area, and all of downtown area, and I just think it's just going to make things worse."

Ward 2 Coun. Fabio Costante said that no matter where the site is located, there is going to be some opposition. But he said evidence shows these sites don't contribute to a rise in crime.

He said that the site is one part of a strategy to address some of the issues that residents and businesses see around addiction, homelessness and mental health in the downtown, and added that there's a safety plan in place to address any concerns.

"We absolutely need to move forward," said Costante, who was recently elected chair of the board of health, but spoke in his capacity as a councillor.

"Every day that we delay this project is a day that we are not providing a service in our community that could save people's lives."

Agostino was elected Ward 3 councillor in last October's municipal election.

Five months prior, in May, city council passed a motion to support the health unit's applications to upper levels of government.

Council was divided on the issue. The motion passed in a 6-5 vote, and Mayor Drew Dilkens was among those who voted against it.

That motion noted that opioid-related deaths in Windsor-Essex are at their highest recorded levels.

In 2021, 86 people lost their lives to overdoses, according to provincial data. 

In a statement, WECHU said that there was extensive consultation over four years that involved more than 3,000 interactions with residents, businesses and others, and it invited the public to review the results of those consultations.

"We look forward to continuing the education process for our elected officials and members of the public related to this important service," the public health unit said.

The health unit held three virtual town hall forums this week on the matter.

In 2021, WECHU conducted public consultations on two locations: the 101 Wyandotte location and 628 Goyeau St. There was no clear preference among the public, according to a survey, but the health unit ultimately chose the Goyeau location.

When the lease for that property fell through, the health unit went with 101 Wyandotte St.

WECHU says the site, to be called Safepoint, could open as soon as the end of March, though that remains contingent upon federal and provincial approvals.