Talk to any business in Ottawa’s Chinatown and each of them have a story to tell about the rise of crime or inappropriate behaviour in the area.
A person peeing in a restaurant window while patrons dine inside, iPads being stolen from a noodle house, and alcohol bottles being taken from behind the bar are just some of the experiences that are being shared.
Yukang Li, Executive Director of the Chinatown BIA, said many of his businesses blame a safe consumption site at the Somerset West Community Health Centre for the rise in incidents.
“This disruptive behavior has caused both emotional and operational challenges to business owners in the area — let alone the financial loss attached to these behaviours,” Li told KT. “Repairs have increased, safety measures have had to be implemented, and insurance costs have gone up. The existence of such behaviors have deterred potential customers from visiting our commercial district, the restaurants and stores in our area.”
That is why the business community was pleased to find out last year that the safe injection site would be closing. The provincial government stated it would ban their practice within 200 metres of schools or childcare facilities. The Somerset West location is about 180 metres away from Nanny Goat Hill Nursery School.
Sylvia Jones, Ontario’s Minister of Health, said at the time that they were leading to “serious safety problems” and noted that Centretown was dealing with a 146 per cent increase in crime. Those numbers have been questioned by many, and Ottawa Police said a freedom of information request would need to be filed to access the statistics.
Safe consumption sites switching to HART hubs
Suzanne Obiorah, Executive Director of the Somerset West Community Health Centre, has said repeatedly she doesn’t feel their facilities are what has led to incidents in the area. She noted many communities are seeing significant challenges around the drug toxicity crisis and how it’s related to homelessness and affordability.
In place of the safe consumption site, a HART hub will open, which stands for a Homelessness and Addiction Recovery Treatment centre. While it’s better than nothing, Obiorah noted there are some current practices it won’t include.
“Our consumption and treatment services allow people to come to our centre and use drugs under supervision. They can also connect to many other supports and services at the centre. If someone was at risk of or if they were to overdose, we can respond to that, and we could also do needle exchange,” she noted. “This model is different in that clients are not able to use drugs, we are not able to do needle exchange, and we are not able to offer safer supply programs.”
One benefit is a new partnership to directly connect people to 24/7 supportive housing. At least 65 units were acquired to “quickly connect individuals to be housed and recover the support they need to stay housed.”
Obiorah said she has concerns that open drug use and overdoses will get worse in Somerset because the users won’t have a safe place to consume.