Toronto city council has given its resounding support to the opening of three supervised injection sites for intravenous drug users.

On Thursday, council voted 36-3 to back Board of Health recommendations to move forward with the proposed sites in existing community health centres on Queen St. W., near Yonge and Dundas Sts., and in Leslieville.

“Supervised injection services are not the magic bullet,” said Councillor Joe Cressy, (Ward 20, Trinity-Spadina) who chairs the Toronto Drug Strategy Implementation Panel and stickhandled the file.

“They will not prevent every single unnecessary loss of life due to fatal overdose. But they are part of a comprehensive approach to drug use and drug policy: treatment, prevention, harm reduction, and yes, enforcement, taken together.”

The sites will now apply for federal drug-law exemptions, in order to offer the services with trained medical staff. Cressy said if the application process goes according to plan, the sites could be open next year.

Mayor John Tory, who acknowledged earlier “discomfort” with the concept, said he is now convinced the sites are the “right . . . (and) moral thing to do . . . to make a positive difference and save lives.”

Tory said he hopes senior levels of government will allocate more resources to “help people get off drugs.” In the meantime, people are “needlessly dying alone.”

Councillor Paula Fletcher praised residents in her Ward 30 (Toronto-Danforth), for wanting a site in their backyard. As she spoke, the screen inside the council chamber showed a video of the late Brooklyn McNeil advocating for safe injection sites at the health board in March.

“The time has come for Toronto to be a pioneer for safe injection services,” Fletcher told council. “Let’s get on with the business of saving lives and I’m doing this for Brooklyn,” who died of an overdose on June 22.

Councillors Giorgio Mammoliti, Christin Carmichael Greb and Stephen Holyday voted against the sites. Holyday (Ward 3, Etobicoke Centre) said afterward he was not swayed by the board of health endorsement nor any arguments presented in the council chamber.

“Using drugs is illegal and I don’t know why we set up a facility where we allow that to happen under our supervision,” said Holyday, adding, “in some ways it’s an enabler.”

He also questioned “how effective the proposed program would be,” since the clinics will only be open during business hours, when participants can access other services.

Council rejected Mammoliti’s motion to change the location of the sites to hospitals, pharmacies and medical clinics.

Donna May, whose daughter, Jac, died in 2012 after battling drug addiction, was in the chamber for the vote. It took place on what would have been Jac’s 39th birthday.

“This is such a momentous experience,” said May, fighting back tears.

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“As she (Jac) was dying, the only thing she wanted me to do was to advocate for harm reduction for substance users and to have everyone understand how important harm reduction is.

“She would be so proud today of Toronto and that this has been passed through and substance users like her will be protected and their lives will be saved.”