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Ed Holder came out Monday night in support of safe injection sites downtown, saying drug use in the city is a crisis that needs to be addressed.

In a wide-ranging debate at Western Fair’s Carousel Room, only three of the candidates fielded questions on the theme of small business and entrepreneurship.

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But Holder set himself apart from Paul Cheng and Paul Paolatto, saying the city’s addiction crisis needs to be addressed by a core-area site.

“I support safe injection sites. I have been in conversation with medical professionals,” he said of how to best cope with the issue.

“They save lives, they stop the spread of HIV and hepatitis C.”

Drug abuse patients now cost the system $1.3 million per person, he added. “We must have a facility.”

Paolatto supported the notion of a mobile injection service, so as not to have it any one area of the city.

“I do no support it, I do not want to surrender any neighbourhood,” said Paolatto.