"There's a health crisis in Ottawa."

Chris Dalton's pronouncement contains not a trace of drama, but it's hard to reconcile with the city I see at the moment. It's springtime in the national capital, and it's beautiful—the bike paths along the canal and rivers are getting busy, trees are flourishing in greens and reds, and the historical architecture in the core of the city glints beneath the sunlight.

Any decision on whether Ottawa should have a safe injection and inhalation site for drug users is up to the community, not the police, according to Chief Charles Bordeleau.

Bordeleau said Wednesday his position on the sites has not changed: he would prefer to invest resources on treatment, rather than harm reduction.

Volunteers for the Campaign for Safer Consumption Sites in Ottawa (CSCS) went door-to-door in the Byward Market and Lowertown this past weekend to engage with the community, and received broad support for their campaign from residents.

In their first weekend of canvassing in an ongoing campaign, CSCS volunteers consulted with over 100 households. At each home, residents were asked whether they would support the creation of a public health facility where people could use their own drugs under medical supervision.

An overwhelming 78% of those responding said they supported the implementation of a supervised drug consumption site in Ottawa, and 65% said they would welcome such a site in their own neighbourhood.

Debate over whether Ottawa should have at least one supervised injection site is far from over.

Proponents are planning a major new proposal by the end of the year.

The subject dominated discussion a recent Board of Health meeting.

The proponents of a supervised injection sites say one of the city’s four pillars to substance misuse is “harm reduction.”

A group advocating a supervised injection site in the ByWard Market is canvassing the neighbourhood Sunday seeking support from residents.

“This is clearly a health crisis. We’re offering an alternative,” said Campaign for Safer Consumption Sites co-ordinator Chris Dalton.

Ottawans using drugs have high rates of overdose, infection, and rising rates of communicable diseases such as HIV and Hepatitis C, he said.

“This is a growing problem and if we don’t stop it soon, then there’s going to be more HIV,” Dalton said.

A local advocacy group is keeping up the fight for a safe injection site in Ottawa, despite the opposition of the mayor and police chief.

The Campaign for Safer Consumption Sites in Ottawa (CSCS) went door-to-door in the ByWard Market on Saturday, asking residents about drug use in the area and if they’d support opening a site where people addicted to drugs could safely inject.

An Ottawa group of volunteers walked the ByWard Market Saturday seeking neighbourhood reaction to a potential safe drug consumption site on their doorstep.

The Campaign for Safer Consumption Sites volunteers went door-to-door in the Market canvassing residents on how they feel about drug use and, if asked to do so publicly, whether they would support a harm reduction site in the neighbourhood. That site could be used to provide a safer space for users to inhale or inject drugs.

Le débat au sujet d'un centre d'injection supervisée au centre-ville d'Ottawa refait surface. Un groupe de personnes a fait du porte-à-porte, samedi, pour sensibiliser la population du marché By à la nécessité d'un tel centre.

Le groupe, qui compte une douzaine de bénévoles, sollicite des appuis. Déjà, ils ont amassé près de 2000 signatures sur une pétition pour la création d'un endroit où les toxicomanes pourraient s'injecter de la drogue sous la supervision d'un employé. Ces bénévoles proviennent de différents milieux, dont le système de santé et les services sociaux. Le groupe compte également d'anciens toxicomanes.

On April 27th and 28th, members of the Campaign for Safer Consumption Sites (CSCS) will be doing door-to-door campaigning to residences and businesses within the ByWard Market. Residents and business owners will be surveyed about their perception of drug use in the market, and asked if they would publicly support the opening of a supervised drug consumption site in their neighbourhood.