WATERLOO REGION — Waterloo Region will start looking at potential locations for supervised injection sites.

Councillors agreed unanimously at a special council meeting Tuesday to go ahead with the next step of pursuing supervised injection services.

They deferred a motion by Cambridge Mayor Doug Craig asking that the city's three core areas be excluded when considering locations.

Several councillors and staff talked about the region's responsibility — and the urgency — to take action amid the opioid crisis and rising number of overdose deaths even if the decision is difficult or unpopular.

"The first and foremost reason why we're looking at SIS facilities is because we want to get help to people who need it," said Kitchener Mayor Berry Vrbanovic.

"But the second reason is we want to, as much as possible, get these issues off our streets."

The second phase will identify and evaluate potential sites through consultation with community partners, as well as the model for providing services. The target is to bring a report back to council in May.

"In the absence of an SIS, the problem is not going to miraculously go away. If anything, it's potentially going to grow," Vrbanovic said.

"We have to ask ourselves where is the better place to deal with this."

The plan is to integrate supervised injection with other services, those required by the provincial program, but also including basic health care and treatment access.

Staff backed off a bit in its latest recommendations, calling for the region to "pursue up to three supervised injection sites in Waterloo Region."

The April recommendations specified one site in each of the downtown cores of Kitchener and south Cambridge, as well as investigating a third location and type to be determined such as mobile.

A report will come back to council with potential sites before more directly engaging people who live, work or go to school near those proposed locations.

"We're not sure yet how long that list will be," said chief administrative officer Mike Murray.

An amendment was added with unanimous support to Tuesday's recommendations asking staff to look into the feasibility of a safe consumption site, where drug use wouldn't be limited to injection.

Murray said it was the staff's preference to leave all options open for potential sites at this point.

That was echoed by several councillors after Craig introduced his motion, asking Cambridge's three cores be exempt from consideration. While the city is in favour of supervised injection sites, Craig said the small cores of Galt, Preston and Hespeler were too small to handle the service.

"Cambridge is not Kitchener and it is not Waterloo. It is a different city completely," said Craig, who was supported in his motion by Cambridge councillors Karl Kiefer and Helen Jowett.

Coun. Geoff Lorentz didn't support the motion and said regional staff should be allowed to do their work.

"We agreed to the process and we shouldn't be circumventing it," Lorentz said. "To support this would be the wrong way to go."

Coun. Tom Galloway called it premature, and asked that the process be kept intact because that's what is attacked when an unpopular decision is made by council.

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"I believe we should keep all locations in the process at this time," Galloway said. "The criteria is not solely where the activity is."

There were 71 suspected overdose deaths in Waterloo Region last year, and 38 opioid-related deaths in 2016. Overdose calls to paramedics were higher in Cambridge and Kitchener.

"For me, this is about saving lives," said Waterloo Mayor Dave Jaworsky.

Kitchener councillors voted unanimously on Monday that it wants the region to take a lead role in operating a supervised injection site, and urged the region to "adopt a fair and equitable approach with some form of supervised injection site" in the three cities.

A couple of council members, including Vrbanovic, took digs at Cambridge council, which voted last week to keep supervised injection sites out of the city's three cores.

"I don't want to see Kitchener mimicking Cambridge by closing eyes tight and refusing to accept responsibility," said Coun. Frank Etherington, who represents a downtown Kitchener ward.

"I also don't want to see Kitchener copy Waterloo by staying quiet on the issue."

Lorentz said at the regional meeting Tuesday that it's a complicated issue that both the public and councillors are trying to understand. The region needs to move forward on supervised injection sites, but carefully.

"I think we're doing it in a good, staged way and I think it's important to try and bring everyone along," Lorentz said.

Vrbanovic said people who are dealing with addiction come from all walks of life, and pointed out that in many ways the councillors around the table are lucky and privileged.

"We have a job to look out for those people who don't have a voice or who have a weak voice who are struggling and need somebody to help them."

With files from Catherine Thompson, cthompson@therecord.com