Supervised injection sites to be decided by Board of Health, not council
Posted Jan 5, 2017 06:16:08 AM.
Last Updated Jan 5, 2017 07:22:37 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
OTTAWA — Supervised injection sites may have gotten a boost from one of their most vocal critics, after the mayor declared the city’s public health board should make decisions around the sites and not city council.
The Sandy Hill Community Health Centre, which has plans for a supervised injection site, required a letter from the city for its application to the federal government. Mayor Jim Watson wrote the letter, a copy of which was provided to Postmedia.
In the letter, Watson lays out the legal argument for placing the decisions around supervised injection sites in the hands of the board of Ottawa Public Health. That would mean the issue is unlikely to come up for debate at city council.
There are still some politics at play, as six of the 11 members of the city’s Board of Health are city councillors, but the board has previously given a thumbs-up to supervised injection sites.
The mayor has been critical of supervised injection sites. His office tells the paper that he has not changed his position.
The Sandy Hill Community Health Centre’s application is on-track to be submitted later this month.
