Barrie-Springwater-Oro-Medonte MP returned this week from Vancouver where he toured a safe injection site

Over the past month, Barrie-Springwater-Oro-Medonte MP Alex Nuttall has posted on his social media his travels to explore safe injection and overdose prevention sites in Toronto and Vancouver.

Later this week, Nuttall plans to release his own study to reveal his findings on the issue to the general public, but some local advocates worry that the information provided might be misguided.

On Oct. 11, Nuttall issued a press release where he came out strong against an overdose prevention site in downtown Barrie.

“As a child growing up in government housing, I saw first-hand the impact of addictive behaviour and mental-health issues,” Nuttall said in the original release. “For me, an illegal-drug injection site is a step toward normalizing illegal and self-destructive behaviours.”

To read BarrieToday's full story on Nuttall’s original news release, click here.

There have been 22 overdose deaths in Simcoe-Muskoka so far this year and statistics show the city is above the provincial average. There was also a 68 per cent increase in the first quarter of 2018.

A Barrie group has been waiting to hear back from the province after applying on April 10 to have an overdose prevention site (OPS) approved for the city.

The local application, which is being spearheaded by the Gilbert Centre, remains on hold while provincial officials review the situation surrounding OPS’s and supervised consumption sites (SCS).

“It’s interesting. When he put his (original) press release out... I wasn’t sure what he was talking about,” says Matt Turner, harm reduction co-ordinator with the Gilbert Centre. “He was referring to illegal-drug injection sites... not overdose prevention sites. The services that are offered are different. It’s not true.”

While the wording still doesn’t sit well with Turner, he says he did get an opportunity to meet with Nuttall after he put out his release to discuss the issue.

“It’s good to see there’s a change in tune, but he’s put out a lot in the last month or so that’s done a bit of damage," Turner said. "We met with him just after that press release went out. He seemed to understand, but he’s tweeted more after that.

"It’s a bit tough to see that," he added. "He has changed his messaging a little bit, but it’s concerning that some stuff’s come out that we cannot take back.”

Turner has serious concerns that some local groups have taken Nuttall’s words and used them to push forward inaccurate information on the issue.

“We are seeing folks rallying around that post and sharing misinformation. Now we’re having to do work to correct that,” said Turner. “There is lots of data that shows that people are only going to use OPS's that are close by to them. So, the downtown core is the most ideal because folks are using drugs more openly in this area. That’s where it makes the most sense.”

“The studies have shown that there’s no increase in crime, no decrease in property values and you’ll see a reduction in public drug use... all these positive things come out of it,” he said.

Ontario's ministry of health says OPS's provide easy-to-access, life-saving services in a stigma-free environment, to help reduce the growing number of opioid-related overdose deaths. The sites could provide supervised injection, harm-reduction material, including disposal of used supplies, and Naloxone.

Since his press release went out on Oct. 11, Nuttall has visited overdose prevention sites and safe injection sites in Toronto and Vancouver to educate himself further on the issue.

He just returned from Vancouver over the weekend.

“One of the reasons we went is to see what happens over time in those areas. I think before anybody votes or looks to make a decision on this subject, it’s somewhere that you need to visit,” Nuttall said this week in an interview with BarrieToday.

“It was pretty heavy. This is a complex problem. Each case is different. There is a lot of trauma and experiences in life that have beaten them down... the individuals that are living on the street there. I learned a lot,” the MP said. “You do not expect to see it in Canada, or in the western world.”

Nuttall first had concerns about the OPS issue due to a lack of public consultation.

“What got me into this subject to begin with was the proposal of an injection site without consultation in Barrie,” he said.

“I try not to be somebody who just criticizes and doesn’t act. I really do try to be somebody who is always going to bring something to the table," Nuttall added. "So, I’ve been embarking on (a study to find out) where in the world they’ve been able to deal with the opioid crisis and deal with it effectively, and where they haven’t.”

Nuttall is putting the final touches on the report prepared by him and his team that is anticipated to be released by the end of this week.

“The one thing that is consistent everywhere I’ve been, whether it’s Barrie, Toronto, Ottawa or Vancouver, or speaking with elected members in other regions of the country who have these types of facilities, is that there is not enough treatment services and rehabilitation services,” Nuttall said. “That needs to be the focus going forward from all levels of government.”

Nuttall said he didn’t see much in the way of prevention and rehabilitation services offered at the sites he toured in Vancouver.

“There are eight (safe injection sites) in downtown Vancouver, and only one of them has rehab services attached to it. With the on-demand services... there’s such a backlog to get in when they’re trying to be accessed, it’s hit-and-miss if you can even get into detox,” he said. “The argument that’s being put forward by people is that the injection site is the first step to recovery.

"But if there’s nowhere for them to go, all it is is just a way in.”

Back home, Nuttall stands firm in his belief that most people who live in Barrie are not supportive of an overdose prevention site downtown.

“I think that, overall, people will not be supportive of a downtown injection site. That’s just my gut feeling," he said.

On Monday, Nuttall put out a Facebook live video unpacking kits being handed out at the David Busby Street Centre in Barrie and the Works Needle Exchange Program in Toronto.

To him, there was a key item missing from both kits he would like to see added right away.

“The one, immediate, like today change that should happen, is that in each of these kits there should be something that says, ‘If you’d like to stop using and change your life, here’s where you go',” he said. “It was in none of the kits that I opened. If this is an entryway or gateway to get help, why is there no advertising for help?”

Sara Peddle, executive director at the Busby Centre, confirmed this week that the kit Nuttall opened in his Facebook live video is a proper kit, but disagrees with some of his conclusions.

“What he unpacked is what we do give out at the centre. There’s the needle exchange pack, the two smoke kits: one for crack and one for crystal meth,” she said. “One of the things that was disappointing for me was that (he) spoke of not having information in the kits for resources.

“From our perspective, it’s about making human connection and authentic engagement with people and making sure they feel comfortable so they do come back and get the help," Peddle added. "We’ve been very successful at that, when people are ready to get the help, we help facilitate that.

“It’s not really about a piece of paper being in there. It’s about when people come in for those exchanges and for those supplies that we treat them with dignity and respect and let them know that there is help available to them if they choose to do that,” Peddle said.

One of the barriers Peddle says Nuttall may not be considering when it comes to treating a person with an addiction is access to housing.

“For example, if you’re experiencing homelessness, a lot of the treatment centres expect that you have housing before you go into treatment," she said. "That can be a downfall for somebody who’s struggling in the streets or with addiction."

In an ideal world, Peddle says she’d also prefer the Busby Centre not have to hand out the kits, but the reality of the world we live in necessitates it.

“Unfortunately, we’ve lost the war on drugs and we’ve got a lot of broken systems in our country,” she said. “Unfortunately, people are the collateral damage of that.

“We can make judgment as much as we want about what’s right or wrong. However, we feel that in society, everybody has value. When somebody’s struggling with addiction, people who have not experienced it wouldn’t know how hard that experience is,” said Peddle.