Consumption site in Sudbury safe for another month
The supervised consumption site in Sudbury will be staying open for at least one more month, but instability has meant a loss of staff at the location where people use drugs under supervision by trained staff.
Réseau ACCESS Network said there were more than 330 visits to The Spot last month, with numbers continuing to grow. Yet the status of the consumption site remains on rocky ground.
“Long term it’s unsustainable to do month-to-month,” said Angèl Riess, manager of education and communications.
“We’ve received support from the community so far and we’ve been very fortunate that way, but it’s unsustainable. So unfortunately as a result of the lack of funding from the province, we are going to have to close at the end of March.”
While private funding will allow the site to stay open for now, most of the staff have left already because of the instability.
“It’s very difficult to live that way, and so what we are doing in order to fill some of those gaps is staff here (at Réseau) are volunteering to do extra hours,” Riess said.
“They are going to get paid for those extra hours, but they’re going to be working above and beyond their regular duties in order to accommodate the shifts at The Spot.”
Provincial funding would allow the spot to remain open permanently, but it’s been more than two years since Réseau first applied and it’s still waiting for an answer. The province has frozen all funding decisions while it studies the issue after a fatal shooting outside one location last summer.
o Download our app to get local alerts on your device
o Get the latest local updates right to your inbox
In a statement to CTV News, the Ministry of Health said the review is ongoing “and will inform the next steps by the Ministry of Health including funding, location and application decisions.”
Réseau said the site will remain open until March 29. Due to limited staff, hours of operation have been reduced to Monday to Friday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
![](https://www.ctvnews.ca/polopoly_fs/1.6958682.1720639670!/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_800/image.jpg)
Canada to announce plan to reach NATO target, spend 2% of GDP on defence: sources
After facing months of pressure, senior government sources tell CTV News that Canada will unveil its plan on Thursday on how to reach its NATO commitment to spend two per cent of its GDP on defence.
His brother was found dead, his mother was arrested before this baby was found crawling by a highway
A Louisiana sheriff says a one-year-old 'miracle baby' survived two days of sometimes stormy weather before a truck driver spotted him crawling along a roadside the day after his four-year-old brother was found dead and his mother was arrested in Mississippi.
Coolers seized from Vancouver encampment during heat wave
Rangers seized two coolers from a person living in a tent in Vancouver's CRAB Park Tuesday as a heat wave scorched the city, the park board has confirmed.
Frank Stronach's granddaughter seeks company docs related to misconduct allegations
The granddaughter of billionaire businessman Frank Stronach is asking an Ontario court to order the family business to disclose any documents that might exist related to complaints of sexual misconduct against him and settlements involving complainants.
Video shows police officer taking firefighter's hose, spraying people in East Vancouver
The Vancouver Police Department is defending the actions of an officer who was recorded taking a firefighter's water hose and spraying two people in the head on Canada Day.
Actor George Clooney, a high-profile Biden supporter and fundraiser, asks president to leave race
Movie star and lifelong Democrat George Clooney added his voice to calls for Joe Biden to leave the presidential race on Wednesday, just weeks after headlining a fundraiser that brought in a record single-night haul for the president's reelection campaign.
Ellen DeGeneres is 'done' after her Netflix special
Ellen DeGeneres has reportedly said she's ready to tap out of performing. The former daytime talk show host let that be known during a recent standup show at the Luther Burbank Center for the Arts in Santa Rosa, California.
Costco to increase annual membership fee to $65 this September
Costco is increasing its annual membership fees in Canada and the U.S. this fall to $65.
Family of 3 killed in tragic collision on B.C. highway, RCMP say
A family of three was killed in a tragic head-on collision with a tractor trailer in B.C.'s Fraser Valley this week, authorities have confirmed. The deceased are two adults and an infant.