Residents of Conception Bay North are working to claim one of their own from a hospital freezer
People in Conception Bay North are planning a fundraiser to hold a funeral for a local man whose unclaimed remains have been held at a St. John's hospital for years. The CBC's Mark Quinn reports.
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CBC
43 minutes ago
- CBC
Visits up at Toronto's remaining consumption sites, 2 months after province forced 4 to close
Social Sharing Toronto's remaining supervised consumption sites say they've gotten busier in the two months since the province forced four sites to close — part of a changing picture of drug use in the city as Ontario continues its move toward an abstinence-based treatment model. "We are seeing more people, and people are changing their behaviour," said Bill Sinclair, CEO of the Neighbourhood Group, which runs the Kensington Market Overdose Prevention Site. Sinclair told CBC Toronto that that site has seen a 30 per cent uptick in visitors since April 1, when nine Ontario supervised drug consumption sites — four of them in Toronto — were forced to close under provincial legislation that prohibits sites from operating within 200 metres of a school or daycare. "People are using [drugs] differently," Sinclair said. "There's been a trend for a while of smoking rather than injecting, because of the perception that that is safer … people are doing their best to try to anticipate what a world might look like when the sites are not there." Fred Victor charity, which operates a supervised consumption site at Queen Street E. and Jarvis Street, has also clocked between 15 and 35 per cent more weekly visits. "It is stretching our staff to try to build the trusting relationships they've been trying to establish," said the charity's CEO Keith Hambly, adding that user numbers could go up even more after the summer months since some people are more inclined to use outdoors during warmer weather. Casey House, which runs a supervised consumption site for registered clients only, has seen a 25 per cent increase in its use, as well as more drug use outside of its facility — prompting it to extend its hours. Street Health on Dundas Street E. says it had 82 per cent more visits year-over-year in April, and 53 per cent more visits year-over-year in May, requiring more staff to be scheduled. Meanwhile, Parkdale Queen West Community Health Centre says it hasn't seen a substantial increase in clientele post-closure, leading to concerns about the welfare of drug users that are no longer seeking out consumption sites. "We know some have used the Kensington site, and we are very concerned about what is happening for others we have not seen," wrote executive director Angela Robertson in an email. Leslieville 'a lot quieter,' say neighbours Meanwhile, people who live and work nearby what was one of the city's most scrutinized consumption sites say there's been a dramatic change since it closed. South Riverdale Community Health Centre made headlines in July 2023, when a woman named Karolina Huebner-Makurat was killed by a stray bullet while walking by. Since the consumption site closed, neighbour Derek Finkle — who was a vocal opponent of the site both before and after the shooting — says that the drug deals and open drug use he used to see on a regular basis has "virtually disappeared." "I've noticed there's nobody hanging around the fronts anymore. It's gotten a lot quieter," said Allen Malloy, owner of Daniel Jewellers on Queen Street E. "It's kind of like someone flipped a switch," said Nigel Fick, a co-owner of Culture Athletics, also on Queen. "When the site was open our business was significantly directly impacted," Fick said. "We had over $75,000 of theft and damages, and regular occurrences of dealing with theft and harassment inside the store." South Riverdale Community Health Centre declined a CBC News request for an interview. Ontario's new model As the city's drug users navigate the closure of consumption sites, there are still a number of unanswered questions as to how the new services that are available will impact drug use and overdose numbers. Of the 10 consumption sites mandated to close under the new provincial law, nine opted to take provincial money and transition into Homelessness and Addiction Recovery Treatment Hubs, or HART hubs. The 10th, Kensington Market Overdose Prevention Site, chose instead to take the Ford government to court over its legislation and is currently staying open thanks to a legal injunction and "fundraising like mad" to stay afloat, said Sinclair. The province said in a statement that all nine HART hubs were up and running by April 1, "ensuring the continuity of mental health support services" post-closure. WATCH | Health minister defends closures: Health minister defends decision to shut 5 safe drug consumption sites in Toronto 10 months ago Duration 6:46 Five supervised drug consumption sites are slated to close in Toronto after the provincial government announced a ban on such facilities near schools and child-care centres. CBC Metro Morning host Molly Thomas spoke to Health Minister Sylvia Jones about the changes. Advocates described "mass confusion" on the ground at the centres in early April, which received start-up funding from Ontario, but, according to the Ministry of Health, have yet to nail down finalized funding agreements with the government. Two months later, several of the HART hubs don't yet appear to have full slates of services up and running. At Toronto Public Health's HART hub, now running temporarily on the Esplanade, only one program of 10 is operational, with the rest planned to get underway this summer or beyond. Meanwhile, data suggests that overdoses are declining in Toronto and in Ontario more widely. According to data from Toronto Public Health, fatal and non-fatal opioid overdose calls are down in 2025 compared to the previous two years and continued to fall over the month of April. Hayley Thompson, the managing director of Toronto's Drug Tracking Service housed within St. Michael's Hospital, speculated in April that the decrease could be attributed to a decrease of the amount of fentanyl in the drug supply.
CBC
43 minutes ago
- CBC
Sherbrooke, Que., faces growing pains as it looks to expand its cycling network
On her daily rides through Sherbrooke, Que., Laurence Williams often finds herself cruising along a bike path — until it suddenly comes to an end. A self-described "utilitarian cyclist," who uses her bicycle for all her transportation needs, Williams says it's possible to get around the city by bike. But it's not always easy. "Sometimes you have a beginning of a bike path and then it just stops," Williams says, adding that this kind of interruption is common on the cycling network in the city, located 150 kilometres east of Montreal. Aside from being inconvenient to someone who is looking for the fastest route to a given destination, Williams feels that the variability in what kinds of infrastructure exist for cyclists also makes her commutes more dangerous, because it is harder to know what is coming up around the next corner. "When you use your bike on a day-to-day basis, you want your route to be quick, to be safe and predictable," she says. Williams argues that in a city like Sherbrooke where there appears to be political will for bike and environmentally friendly initiatives, she expects it to be easier to make progress. "In a context where ecological transition has been mentioned as a priority for the City of Sherbrooke and a context where more than 50 per cent of our citywide greenhouse gas emissions are directly related to transportation, we really need to go faster." 'A big challenge' for the city In May, Sherbrooke highlighted 16 areas where expansions to the cycling network have been planned. Over the next three years, the hope is to bridge a number of significant gaps in the existing system. According to Anne-Sophie Demers, a division chief for sustainable and integrated mobility with Sherbrooke's Strategic Territorial Development Service, the goal of these priority areas is to improve the connectivity between different parts of the network. "It is a big challenge for our team because the context and situation is never the same," Demers says. Demers and her team have been charged with trying to determine how best to implement safe and functional bike paths on existing roads without disrupting the needs of existing traffic. It is an urban planning puzzle, she said, because some roads are simply not large enough to accommodate both drivers and cyclists on fully protected bike lanes. Despite those difficulties, Demers says that the city has been in conversation with local cycling groups to try to find the best options available in the hopes that a more secure cycling network will open the door to more cyclists. The city is also trying to improve access to bikes in other ways. Demers notes that there is currently work underway for the installation of Bixi bike-sharing stations similar to the system that has been in place in Montreal for more than a decade "We think it has the potential to transform mobility in Sherbrooke." The initial Bixi system in Sherbrooke is expected to have 250 bicycles at 25 stations, with 80 per cent of the fleet being e-bikes. Although no official start date has yet been announced, Demers says the system should be operational by July. A city with a lot of potential "The arrival of e-bikes has literally changed the landscape of who's able to cycle," says Magali Bebronne, director of programs at Vélo Québec. The cycling advocacy group is one of the parties Demers's team has turned to for support and data in its planning process. Vélo Québec conducts regular research into the state of bicycle adoption in several different Quebec cities, including Sherbrooke. For a city as hilly as Sherbrooke, Bebronne says bikes equipped with an electric motor are a game changer for cycling accessibility. That, combined with the known benefits of public-access bicycle programs like Bixi, creates an interesting opportunity for increased adoption of cycling as a way of getting around in the city. Vélo Québec also publishes a portrait of cycling in the province every five years and, although the 2020 report was carried out in unusual circumstances due to the COVID-19 pandemic, research showed that just over half of all Quebecers were using a bicycle and 2.1 million people were using one as a regular mode of transportation. Bebronne says the group is currently in the process of preparing the 2025 edition. Bebronne also challenges the idea that using bikes in this way is uniquely a "big city" phenomenon. "In smaller cities, people actually live closer to where they work," Bebronne explains, noting that Vélo Québec's last study of Sherbrooke showed that about 44 per cent of the population live within five kilometres of their work.
CBC
43 minutes ago
- CBC
This expectant mom's living in an outdoor shelter as YWCA Hamilton waits on federal funds to build housing
Four months into her pregnancy, Megan Ryan's bump is just visible — a constant reminder of what she's hoping for by the time she gives birth in November: Housing. The 34-year-old lives in Hamilton's outdoor shelter, which is designed for adults and pets only. Before that, she lived in a tent near Hamilton's rail trail for over a year, including last winter. She's afraid if she doesn't find a more permanent place to live, her newborn will be put into foster care. "That's what I'm terrified of," said Ryan. "And I don't know how I'll deal with that. I really don't." CBC Hamilton spoke with Ryan at a park near the outdoor shelter on Wednesday. She spoke openly about her life: her parents' struggles with alcoholism and how she began drinking at age 13, her first pregnancy at 16 and leaving home to live in a shelter while going to high school, experiences with mental illness and intimate partner violence, and having four more children and trying to keep them housed — renting mostly, but also couch surfing and living in hotel rooms and family shelters. In 2021, Ryan, her children and partner at the time were renting a home when he left, and she struggled to pay all the expenses on her own. "It came down to paying the bills or buying groceries, so I stopped paying the bills," she said. Limited services in Hamilton Ryan was evicted in December 2022 and her five kids went to live with other people — a gut-wrenching decision she and they have struggled with since, she said. "Two years, that's a long time," Ryan said. "I want my kids back. I've been trying." But in Hamilton, there are few housing options specifically for unhoused pregnant people and their children to live together until they can find permanent housing. The YWCA Hamilton has three beds at its transitional living program for women and non-binary individuals needing emergency reproductive care, but the site can't accommodate partners, pets or children. That means a person who's given birth can't return with the baby. "That's one of the leading issues at the end of pregnancy, with the person we're supporting asking where are they going next?" said Chelsea Kirkby, the YWCA's vice president of strategic initiatives and program development. That's where the Oakwood Project comes in, said CEO Medora Uppal. On Barton Street East, the proposed building would include 90 housing units for women, children and gender-diverse people who have experienced homelessness or violence. Some of the spots will be for women before and after their pregnancies, whether or not they bring a baby home or have other children in their care. Since August 2022, 126 pregnant, unhoused women — or social service providers on their behalf — have reached out to the YWCA for help, said Mary Vaccaro, a program co-ordinator. "A lot of the time it's invisible homelessness — they're staying at a sister's house that's untenable, unsafe and they're trying to get out of it," Vaccaro said as an example. When Uppal began envisioning the project in 2021, she said, she thought the process would be faster given the need. The YWCA found the land that December and bought it with a loan from the Hamilton Community Foundation, Uppal said. It also received $6.75 million from the city to pay for demolition, which took place this week. It's now waiting to hear back from the federal government if it will receive $34 million in funding to build. The City of Hamilton has committed $6.75 million in capital contributions to the YWCA's Oakwood Place project at 1067 Barton Street East, as part of the Affordable Housing Development Project Stream (the Project Stream) and Housing Accelerator Fund (HAF). Pre-development funding will cover early-stage activities such as demolition and site remediation. Construction funding will be released in phases to ensure the project's completion and occupancy. "We're really hopeful, but the news can't come quickly enough," Uppal said. "This is a long time coming and we are behind as a community, as a country, in building affordable housing." 'See that would be cool' Once the Oakwood Project is open, the YWCA will have more flexibility in helping people at any point of their reproductive or parenting journeys, said Kirkby. Along with housing, the site will offer other supports like medical care, child care, skills training, and employment and immigration services. "It's going to be really unique and something that's not offered in the city currently," said Kirkby. If the YWCA receives federal funding soon, it aims to start building by the end of the year. Canada Mortgage Housing Corporation, which decides which affordable, supportive and transitional housing projects receive federal funding, declined to comment on this specific application to protect confidentiality. As of the end of last year, the federal government's National Housing Strategy has committed about $15 billion to build, repair and support over 300,000 housing units for women and children across Canada. The Oakwood Project won't be ready for when Ryan gives birth, but she said she likes the idea, not only because it would give her and her newborn a place to live, but her other children, too. "See, that would be cool," she said. "That's what I would love to do." Instead, she will stay in the outdoor shelter for the time being. With the help of staff there, she's applying for more permanent housing, and while it may not be tailored exactly to her and her family's needs, she feels optimistic.
