Sudbury city councillors pick downtown Energy Court for temporary injection site
By an 11-2 vote Tuesday evening, city council in Greater Sudbury approved the downtown Energy Court location to set up a temporary safe injection site.
The site is one of two city-owned properties downtown that cleared all hurdles to act as a temporary site, as the search continues for a permanent location. The other site, the Elgin Street parking lot, would have reduced parking downtown.
Ward 4 Coun. Geoff McCausland said it came down to which site would have less of an impact on the surrounding area.
“The Energy Court location is a space that has been used for decades by the more vulnerable members of our community," McCausland said.
"In fact, there was shelters there this entire past winter …Unless you happened to be in a building that has a bunch of stories downtown and you can see them, you would have never known they were there. And so in many ways, it much less impactful.”
Ward 5 Coun. Robert Kirwan was opposed, arguing the court is on the outskirts of the downtown.
“It’s where can we put this site so it’s going to serve the people who actually need it and be there for the people who need it," Kirwan said.
"I would prefer to have the ambulances close by, the police close by, the fire close by and access to food and shelter.”
Although they disagree on location, both agree it has been a long time coming.
“We should have had this two years ago, but now we’re close to getting it,” said Kirwan.
“I wish we had this conversation, I wish we had this motion and this report a year agom, but at least it’s all moving," McCausland said. "It’s all moving forward and we’re trying to move forward as quickly as possible because days are lives.”
A report brought to council Tuesday said while senior governments need to approve the creation of an urgent care facility, they do not fund them.
“The city would have to fund this -- I don’t think there is any other choice," Kirwan said.
It will cost about $800,000 to set up trailers and other services on the court, he said, and roughly $1 million in annual operating costs.
Kirwan said city staff will prepare an outline of the projected operational costs and if council approves that, then the application will be sent in to the federal government.
He estimates it takes about six to eight weeks to get a response.
“So we really can’t start doing anything until we get the approval from the government to operate the temporary site," Kirwan said. "So we are a good two…two and a half months away at the earliest from having this up and running.”
In the meantime McCausland said staff have been directed to reach out to local businesses to secure trailers or a modular building that can be used once approval is in place.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
MPP Sarah Jama asked to leave Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
MPP Sarah Jama was asked to leave the Legislative Assembly of Ontario by House Speaker Ted Arnott on Thursday for wearing a keffiyeh, a garment which has been banned at Queen’s Park.
Mountain guide dies after falling into a crevasse in Banff National Park
A man who fell into a crevasse while leading a backcountry ski group deep in the Canadian Rockies has died.
2 teens charged in Halifax homicide: police
Two teenagers have been charged with second-degree murder in connection to an alleged homicide near the Halifax Shopping Centre earlier this week.
'Deep ignorance': Calls for Manitoba trustee to resign sparked after comments about Indigenous people and reconciliation
A rural Manitoba school trustee is facing calls to resign over comments he made about Indigenous people and residential schools earlier this week.
ByteDance prefers TikTok shutdown in U.S. if legal options fail, Reuters sources say
TikTok owner ByteDance would prefer to shut down its loss-making app rather than sell it if the Chinese company exhausts all legal options to fight legislation to ban the platform from app stores in the U.S., four sources said.
12-year-old hippo in Japan raised as a male discovered to be a female
When Gen-chan arrived at a zoo in Japan in 2017, no one questioned whether the then-five-year-old hippopotamus was a boy. Seven years later, zoo staff made a surprising discovery: Gen-chan, now 12, was female.
Here's why Harvey Weinstein's New York rape conviction was tossed and what happens next
Here's what you need to know about why movie mogul Harvey Weinstein's rape conviction was thrown out and what happens next.
Improve balance and build core strength with this exercise
When it comes to cardiovascular fitness, you may tend to focus on activities that move you forward, such as walking, running and cycling.
Legendary hockey broadcaster Bob Cole dies at 90: CBC
Bob Cole, a welcome voice for Canadian hockey fans for a half-century, has died at the age of 90. Cole died Wednesday night in St. John's, N.L., surrounded by his family, his daughter, Megan Cole, told the CBC.