In a blow to Edmonton’s Chinatown and Area Business Association (CABA), a federal judge has ruled that not all community groups have a right to be consulted about supervised injection sites.
CABA—which argued it was not properly consulted before three supervised injection sites opened in their area—submitted an application for a judicial review of the Edmonton sites. A month-and-a-half later, Judge Richard Mosley ruled the sites’ primary focus is public health.
“Any consideration of negative impacts on the local community is secondary and discretionary,” Mosley said.
CABA is “disappointed” with the decision; there are three public sites— Boyle Street Community Services, George Spady Society and Boyle McCauley Health Centre—in the Chinatown area.
“We have social disorder that we deal with on a day to day basis, and drug injection sites are just one more layer,” said Holly Mah, a member of the association’s board of directors.
For health professionals who work at these sites, the decision was vital to continue to help others. A different ruling would have made it more difficult to open supervised injection sites anywhere in Canada.
“It means that we can continue the work that we have been doing all along, and it is work that is incredibly crucial in light of the overdose crisis,” Streetworks Program Manager Marliss Taylor said.
New data shows people have injected themselves more than 38,000 at Edmonton sites, where staff have reversed 420 overdoses and made more than 15,000 referrals to other health services.
“I think they have been absolutely crucial,” Taylor said.
With files from CTV Edmonton’s Jeremy Thompson
