Take Action: Tell Ford to Restore Funding for Overdose Prevention in Toronto
Doug Ford and his Health Minister Christine Elliott have defunded two supervised consumption sites in Toronto, and left a third site with their funding in limbo [1]. Supervised consumption sites are safe spaces where people can inject pre-obtained drugs under the supervision of trained health professionals. This is life-saving health care [2].
Without funding, these life-saving services could be forced to close their doors during the defining public health crisis of our time. 600 people died from an overdose in Ontario in just 6 months last year [1], and overdose is now one of the leading causes of death of young people in Ontario [3].
Take action: Use our petition to tell Doug Ford and Christine Elliott they are putting lives at risk and the Province must reverse its cut and continue funding all of the supervised consumption sites in Toronto.
Every month for the past 9 months 50-70 people overdosed at supervised consumption sites in Toronto and because they were there had life saving services available [2]. Closing sites will put people in immediate, deadly danger - it will result in more deaths. Mayor Tory and Toronto’s Board of Health Chair Joe Cressy, and the City’s Medical Officer of Health have made it clear these cuts must be reversed to save lives.
Doug Ford and Christine Elliott need to hear from you and feel the pressure to reverse these deadly cuts. They’ve changed their minds before because of strong public backlash. Use our form to send your message - you can even personalize it with your own experience and comments. Make sure this life-saving message gets through to them, send your message today.