Overdose Prevention Ottawa Letter of Support

Overdose Prevention Ottawa is a group of community members and service providers who have come together to respond to an overdose crisis that has already taken so many lives in Ottawa and across Canada.

Overdose prevention sites offer a safer space where people can use drugs and get the help they need if they overdose. They can also access harm reduction supplies, naloxone, and support.

Your voice matters! Let Mayor Watson, Police Chief Bordeleau, and Ottawa City Councillors know that you support Overdose Prevention Ottawa.

The Campaign for Safer Consumption Sites is proud to share this letter on behalf of OPO.

(Cliquez ici pour envoyer votre message en français.)

Name *

Email address *

Postal code

Message *

Dear Mayor Jim Watson, Ottawa City Councillors, and Chief of Police Charles Bordeleau,

I am writing you today to voice my deep support for Overdose Prevention Ottawa’s efforts to address the overdose crisis in our city. I ask that you visit the pop up site to learn more about best practices in harm reduction, and support Overdose Prevention Ottawa (OPO) to ensure the site can continue to operate without efforts to close it by law enforcement.

Overdose Prevention sites are a harm reduction based health service that provide people with an immediate health intervention to prevent a fatality from overdose. This harm reduction measure is proven to work to reduce the number of preventable fatalities from overdose. In Vancouver alone, there were 147,705 visits to overdose prevention sites in the first 7 months of 2017, and 770 overdoses were reversed.

We are in the middle of a crisis. Everyday, frontline workers and community members witness the rising numbers of preventable overdoses. In the first 6 months of 2017, 412 Ontarians died of an overdose -- an 11% increase from last year. This summer, there were an average of 3 to 4 overdoses in emergency rooms in Ottawa per day.

These public health statistics on overdoses are only the tip of the iceberg. This data considers only a portion of the overdoses experienced by people who use drugs in our city, since the vast majority will not call emergency services due to fear of criminalization, stigma, and interactions with the police. Even the previous Federal Health Minister, Jane Philpott, acknowledged that nationally we have insufficient data on overdose deaths.

OPO has stepped up to meet that need. In just over 1 month they have had more than 1039 visits. 1039 people have used their services, safely taken drugs under skilled supervision, received clean medical equipment, been trained on how to use naloxone to reverse overdoses, and been referred to services and treatment – all while being treated with dignity and respect.

I applaud your support for the long overdue opening of a temporary safe injection site to help address this crisis. It is a key part of the solution to this crisis. The temporary site should complement, not compete with OPO. I call on you to learn from and to support OPO’s unique peer-centred model of care. Every night, they offer a truly cost-effective and accessible method for reaching those most affected by the opioid emergency.

I am proud of Overdose Prevention Ottawa for taking steps to bring this necessary harm reduction service to Ottawa. The City of Ottawa must provide long lasting support to Overdose Prevention Ottawa and take meaningful, informed steps to address the overdose crisis our city and too many of its residents are facing.

Overdose Prevention Ottawa Letter of Support

Main menu

Subscribe to our mailing list