Latest news with #SandyHill
National Post
12-05-2025
- Health
- National Post
Derek Finkle: Controversial drug injection sites among Carney's first challenges
When Mark Carney was asked on the campaign trail about whether federal approval for injection sites would continue under his government, he avoided the contentious topic by saying the effectiveness of those sites was under review. Article content Article content Even in his evasion, our new prime minister was undermining the position staked out by his predecessor, Justin Trudeau. When asked about such controversial initiatives as injection sites and the distribution of so-called 'safer supply' opioids to those with severe addictions, the latter was fond of insisting his government was simply 'following the science.' Article content Article content If science had decided injection sites were wildly successful and necessary, then why does Carney's government need to study them? Article content Article content As it turns out, Carney and his minority government are going to be called on to conclude their alleged study of injection sites sooner rather than later. This is because the federal drug law exemption (required for injection sites across Canada to operate) expired for a site in the Sandy Hill neighbourhood of Ottawa on April 30. Article content The Sandy Hill Community Health Centre, which houses the injection site, applied to renew its federal drug law exemption on Jan. 30. Just a few months earlier, another injection site in the same ward, Rideau-Vanier, which is home to three sites, was granted a five-year exemption renewal under controversial circumstances. Article content So controversial, in fact, that the head of a local arts non-profit has since gone to federal court seeking a judicial review of the insular and secretive process Health Canada utilized in coming to its decision. Article content At the 11th hour, late on April 30, Health Canada advised the Sandy Hill site that it was renewing its exemption — not for five years but only 30 days. The obvious reason for such a short exemption renewal being that Health Canada needs to take direction from the new government. Article content Article content One piece of good news for Mark Carney is that the materials required for his study of injection sites have recently been assembled in a very large, detailed package. This exhaustive analysis of the topic results from a legal challenge filed by an injection site in Toronto's Kensington neighbourhood, claiming that legislation passed in Ontario late last year prohibiting injection sites from operating within 200 metres of schools and daycare facilities violates the charter rights of drug users. Article content Article content The judge overseeing this litigation estimated the case's court record to be 6,000 pages in total. I may be the only journalist to have read it in its entirety. So, free of charge, I will provide Mr. Carney with the Coles notes summary.
Ottawa Citizen
27-04-2025
- Politics
- Ottawa Citizen
10 Ottawa residents explain how they think about voting
Article content Over the course of the campaign, the Citizen's Bruce Deachman asked 10 Ottawa-area residents how they approach elections and voting. Their responses were both varied and insightful. Take a look: Article content Article content Article content For Brad Fisher of Sandy Hill, it's about saving the country from Donald Trump. Fisher is a regular voter who doesn't necessarily favour the same party each election. But this time, he's definitely focused on how events in the U.S. could affect Canada. 'As one of my colleagues said, if we don't have a country, then it really doesn't matter after that,' he told the Citizen. Article content Article content Article content 'Young voters don't have any idea how fragile democracy is,' says Vicky Assad of Kanata. 'There's a level of apathy that I don't understand, and that's really what my message is.' She urges everyone to cast a ballot. Article content Article content Twenty-one-year-old uOttawa student Brendan Saunders says so many issues and discussions are highly politicized these day: 'No one is actually advocating for just genuine civic engagement.' Social media is one culprit, and it's turning off young people from getting involved in elections, he says. Article content
