愛污传媒

Canada

    • Ontario mayors ask for mental-health law reviews in wake of opioid, encampment crisis

    A person who experienced homelessness sits with their belongings as city workers move to clear an encampment on Toronto's Bay Street on May 15, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young A person who experienced homelessness sits with their belongings as city workers move to clear an encampment on Toronto's Bay Street on May 15, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young
    Share

    Ontario Big City Mayors are asking the province to review mental-health laws and whether to expand the scope of involuntary treatment for people who are addicted to drugs and live on the streets.

    The organization that represents 29 mayors of cities with more than 100,000 people say they are taking no position on treatment given without consent 鈥 a practice British Columbia's government recently committed to expanding.

    But they say they want to spark a discussion with the provincial government, noting homelessness has risen across Ontario since the COVID-19 pandemic in communities big and small.

    Encampments have popped up in recent years throughout the province, while the cost of both purchasing and renting housing has increased significantly.

    Toxic overdose deaths are also up, and the mayors are demanding immediate action from both the province and the federal government.

    Last year, nearly 2,600 Ontarians died due to opioids, a 50 per cent increase from 2019, with fentanyl and its derivatives especially affecting users in the homeless population.

    "For those suffering from mental health and addictions in this province, there are not proper facilities that have capacity to give everyone who requires the care they need to get that care in a timely fashion," said Josh Morgan, the mayor of London, Ont.

    "That is an absolute crisis across this province and something that we know we need the government to move on."

    The mayors said Friday they would like the province to "urgently review" two laws, the Mental Health Act and the Health Care Consent Act, which allow for short periods of involuntary hospital admissions.

    "The scope of the mental-health crisis that we've seen and how widespread it is was never necessarily contemplated when those acts were written," Morgan said.

    "So our ask to immediately review and update those acts in consultation with proper medical and health-care professionals, as well as municipalities and those impacted by the challenges faced on our streets, is a reasonable ask 鈥 to say, 'Is that sort of treatment, or compulsory, or however you want to call it, mandatory treatment, the right thing to do?'"

    Neither Health Minister Sylvia Jones nor Associate Minister of Mental Health Michael Tibollo has ruled out expanding involuntary treatment, but both say they prefer treatment to be voluntary.

    They have also both said they are working on increasing the number of treatment beds.

    In its upcoming legislative sitting, Premier Doug Ford's government promised to legislate new rules to eliminate 10 existing supervised consumption sites that are within 200 metres of schools and daycares, and do away with needle exchange programs.

    Instead, the province has said it will shift to an abstinence-based model, with plans to launch new "homelessness and addiction recovery treatment hubs" next year, plus create 375 highly supportive housing units at a cost of $378 million.

    The province's fundamental shift has sparked outrage among homeless people, advocates and health-care workers.

    Alex Nuttall, the mayor of Barrie, Ont., was among several city leaders who were calling on mayors to take a collective position and outright ask for mandatory involuntary treatment laws from the province.

    He said he's happy with their softened position.

    "When I sit there and make calls for the City of Barrie asking for more mandatory treatment and rehabilitation, I don't know what those lines look like in terms of where those lines need to be created, what the pathways are into it, what the pathways are out of it," he said Friday.

    "And what you're seeing here in this motion is a call for the provincial government to determine whether they need to strengthen what already exists in terms of mandatory care in this province."

    Encampments and open drug use have become a huge issue for the mayors, who launched a "solve the crisis" campaign earlier this year to spur the province to do more to help homeless people and beleaguered businesses.

    There are 1,400 encampments across Ontario, the mayors say.

    Among other asks, the mayors would like to see both provincial and federal governments join any court cases that may end up restricting the ability of municipalities to regulate and prohibit encampments.

    They are calling for a vast expansion of residential and community-based treatment programs. The mayors also want reforms to the justice system to allow for referrals to rehabilitation centres for some offences rather than punitive measures such as incarceration.

    They also want the federal government to spend the $250 million for municipalities it announced in the spring, as part of a promised national encampment strategy.

    Cam Guthrie, the mayor of Guelph, Ont., said he is exasperated and fed up.

    "We have an encampment and opioid addictions and mental-health crisis in our province and we should not be at another podium again asking for help," he said.

    "So we need the help of the province and we need it urgently, we need it now."

    This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 18, 2024.

    CTVNews.ca Top Stories

    Police have confirmed the body of an employee who died at a Walmart in Halifax over the weekend was found in a walk-in oven.

    At least seven large-scale butter thefts have been reported in Guelph, Ont. over a 10-month period, including two hauls in just the last month.

    Quebec Premier Francois Legault promised on Tuesday to toughen secularism measures in schools, saying he was 'shocked' by revelations about a Montreal public school where a group of teachers had tried to introduce what the premier described as 'Islamist' beliefs.

    • With the B.C. election too close to call, Dr. Bonnie Henry was asked Tuesday how she feels about the possibility of a party that has repeatedly called for her firing forming government.

    • The B.C. Greens say Sonia Furstenau will be staying on as party leader, despite losing her seat in the legislature in Saturday's provincial election.

    • Police say a youth has been arrested after a report of online threats against a school in the Metro Vancouver community of Richmond, B.C.

    • Police have released video footage of a recent home invasion in Richmond Hill as they search for three outstanding suspects who they say may have returned to the residence the following day to take another vehicle.

    • A Superior Court justice in Milton has been ordered to participate in coaching from a more senior judge after the Canadian Judicial Council found that his tone was 'abusive and intimidating' during a family court hearing last September.

    • A group of professional engineers plan to soon withdraw services from key Ontario infrastructure projects Highway 413 and the Bradford Bypass as part of a bargaining dispute with the province.

    • A new study suggests the Government of Alberta purposely pushed false narratives around public safety to scale down safe supply in the province.

    • An electrical grid alert was issued throughout Alberta on Tuesday morning as temperatures cooled.

    • More than a decade after the death of Colton Crowshoe, the man responsible is expected to be sentenced in a Calgary court on Tuesday.

    • Memorials and tributes are taking place across Ottawa on Tuesday to remember Cpl. Nathan Cirillo, an honour guard stationed at the National War Memorial, killed 10 years ago today.

    • Residents of Ottawa's Rideauview neighbourhood say an aggressive wild turkey has become a problem.

    • Former volunteers with Eastern Ontario Cats (EOC) are working to track cats they say are either dead or missing after allegations of abuse, neglect and falsified medical records surfaced in recent months.

    • Quebec Premier Francois Legault promised on Tuesday to toughen secularism measures in schools, saying he was 'shocked' by revelations about a Montreal public school where a group of teachers had tried to introduce what the premier described as 'Islamist' beliefs.

    • The Quebec government says it wants to hear from Quebecers about the possibility of scrapping the twice-yearly time change.

    • A Montreal suburb has started an operation to kill white-tailed deer in one of its local parks, after years of legal battles with activists seeking to save the animals.

    • Edmonton police are looking for information on a man they say is connected to a July house fire in the Fraser neighbourhood.

    • Edmonton Public Schools (EPS) custodians have voted 97 per cent in favour of going on strike.

    • Alberta photographers Holly Austin and Ginette Linares don't want women to be scaredy cats when it comes to stripping down.

    • Police have confirmed the body of an employee who died at a Walmart in Halifax over the weekend was found in a walk-in oven.

    • A member of the Nova Scotia Liberal Party is crossing the floor and joining the Progressive Conservatives.

    • Communities east of Alberta set record high temperatures for an Oct. 21 while Alberta itself contended with the first snowfall of the season in some areas.

    • The Manitoba government is restoring the 1:1 apprentice-to-journeyperson ratio.

    • Brandon police are looking to find the owners of a small litter of puppies found abandoned in the city on Tuesday.

    • It was lights, cameras, and action at a beachfront Manitoba community last week as a Hollywood movie shoot took over the town once again.

    • Saskatchewan's Conflict of Interest Commissioner (COIC) has found that former Saskatchewan Party MLA Gary Grewal violated legislative rules by profiting from hotels while they were party to government contracts.

    • Two bullet holes were discovered at the campaign office of a Saskatchewan Party candidate in Regina.

    • Hundreds of voter information cards have landed in the wrong hands.

    • Police are investigating a suspicious fire at a Kitchener playground.

    • At least seven large-scale butter thefts have been reported in Guelph, Ont. over a 10-month period, including two hauls in just the last month.

    • People living in Doon South say they鈥檝e seen a group of teens running around and knocking down Halloween displays.

    • Hundreds of voter information cards have landed in the wrong hands.

    • A city planning document for the Bus Rapid Transit system (BRT) sparked controversy over the weekend, with three civic election candidates alleging Confederation Mall was at risk of being demolished and replaced with dense housing.

    • The Saskatchewan RCMP has confirmed a pedestrian was killed after being hit by a vehicle on Highway 2 near Wakaw on Sunday.

    • Warning: This story includes graphic descriptions of a murder scene many will find upsetting. Reader caution strongly is advised. After three weeks of testimony, a Sudbury jury has begun deliberations in the case of a woman charged with second-degree murder in a gruesome stabbing death in December 2020.

    • After operating for 51 years, General Motors has announced it is closing the Kapuskasing Proving Ground, a facility the automaker used to test the durability of its vehicles in cold weather.

    • Police have confirmed the body of an employee who died at a Walmart in Halifax over the weekend was found in a walk-in oven.

    • The head of the union representing thousands of teachers believes the embattled Thames Valley District School Board (TVDSB) is 鈥渕oving in the right direction.鈥

    • On the stand of a London courthouse on Tuesday, Rachel Johnson described how a fun bush bash birthday party on July 30, 2021 turned deadly.

    • 鈥淲hen Stoney Creek was built 15 years ago the development hadn鈥檛 expanded out this far, but now development has reached us, and surpassed us, and therefore demand is there to increase what space we have,鈥 Galloway explained.

    • Emergency crews rushed to the scene of a serious collision in Barrie鈥檚 south end involving a passenger vehicle and a motorcycle.

    • Police laid two dozen charges in connection with a month-long investigation into a criminal auto theft enterprise.

    • Police have arrested one person after an alleged bank robbery in Orillia.

    • 鈥榁ampire Zombies鈥rom Space!鈥 and 鈥楾hundersnake鈥, two films that are showing at the Windsor International Film Festival (WIFF), were both shot across the city and in the County of Essex.

    • NextStar Energy is celebrating the official start of battery module production.

    • Researchers at the University of Windsor have been given $2.5 million from the Public Health Agency of Canada to advance a sexual violence prevention program.

    • With the B.C. election too close to call, Dr. Bonnie Henry was asked Tuesday how she feels about the possibility of a party that has repeatedly called for her firing forming government.

    • The B.C. Greens say Sonia Furstenau will be staying on as party leader, despite losing her seat in the legislature in Saturday's provincial election.

    • Mounties are investigation after a 19-year-old driver was killed in a crash on Vancouver Island on Monday night.

    • Dave Lindsey began growing giant pumpkins to bring a bit of magic to his grandkids' Halloween.

    • A U.S. District Court judge in Montana has sentenced a 27-year-old man from Kelowna, B.C., to 18 months in prison for using fake names to buy guns with the aim of selling them in Canada.

    • Nearly two years after a man was stabbed to death in downtown Kelowna, RCMP have made an arrest in the case.

    • Lethbridge police are advising the public of officer training on Tuesday that will happen in two different venues throughout the day.

    • Calgary scored three times in the first, and three times in the third as the Hitmen defeated the Lethbridge Hurricanes 6-1 Saturday at the Saddledome.

    • The last students to graduate from Lethbridge College will make history this weekend as they cross the stage at fall convocation.

    • Rallies by a group called Voices Against Violence took place across the country on Monday, including Sault Ste. Marie.

    • An Indigenous group in northwestern Ontario shut down the highway for a couple of hours Monday morning in protest after ancestral remains were found at a construction site.

    • The owners of 73 vacant properties in the Sault have been fined for violations of the city's vacant properties bylaw, including 33 owned by a firm going through a high-profile insolvency process.

    N.L.

    Local Spotlight

    Residents of Ottawa's Rideauview neighbourhood say an aggressive wild turkey has become a problem.

    A man who lost his life while trying to rescue people from floodwaters, and a 13-year-old boy who saved his family from a dog attack, are among the Nova Scotians who received a medal for bravery Tuesday.

    A newly minted Winnipegger is hoping a world record attempt will help bring awareness for the need for more pump track facilities in the city.

    A Springfield, Ont. man is being hailed a 'hero' after running into his burning home to save his two infant children.

    Hortense Anglin was the oldest graduate to make her way across the platform at York University's Fall Convocation ceremony this week. At the age of 87, she graduated with an Honours degree in Religious Studies.

    Looking for a scare with good intentions this Halloween season? The ghosts and ghouls of Eganville, Ont. invite families to tour the Haunted Walk at Lekbor Manor.

    The image of a sleepy Saskatchewan small town with 'not a lot going on' is a well-known anecdote. However, one Saskatchewan company is hoping to change that 鈥 and allow communities both on and off the beaten path to share their stories and advertise what they have to offer.

    A Moncton, N.B., home has been donated to the Friends of The Moncton Hospital Foundation and will be transformed into a resource hub for people living with cancer.

    A Nova Scotia man crossing Canada on foot is passing through southwestern Ontario. Trevor Redmond is perhaps better known as the 鈥楩ellow in Yellow.鈥

    Politics

    Health

    Sci-Tech

    Entertainment

    Business

    Lifestyle

    Sports

    Autos

    Shopping Trends

    The Shopping Trends team is independent of the journalists at 愛污传媒. We may earn a commission when you use our links to shop.聽Read about us.

    Stay Connected
    Follow 愛污传媒