Majority of parishes support protection and expansion of harm reduction services

This year’s social justice vestry motion, “Protecting and Expanding Harm Reduction in Ontario,” received the support of a majority of parishes across the diocese, as parishes considered the devastating impacts of the ongoing opioid overdose crisis. As of the time of this writing, 114 of 166 parishes, or 68.7 per cent, had passed the motion in some form. (We are still waiting to hear from a further 26 parishes whose parochial returns have not yet been uploaded.) Of those who passed the motion, more than 97 per cent retained the original wording urging the provincial government to reverse the planned closure of safe consumption sites and to reverse the ban on new sites, with or without additions.

The results of the motion are heartening, considering that this year’s motion was somewhat more controversial than many past social justice motions. In the lead-up to the vestry motion campaign, some clergy and lay people expressed concern that the motion might be seen as “enabling” substance abuse. However, as parishes engaged with the motion and the materials provided by the Social Justice and Advocacy Committee, most came to see supporting harm reduction not as opposing treatment, but as offering a full continuum of care – indeed, providing an on-ramp for people who use drugs to access all sorts of health and other supports, including treatment. Several parishes made this connection explicit by adding language urging the province to increase access to addictions treatment along with protecting and expanding harm reduction services.

Another concern expressed early on was that this motion wouldn’t gain traction outside Toronto, since the only sites in the diocese slated to be closed by the province’s new legislation were in Toronto. In fact, over half of the parishes supporting the motion were located outside Toronto, and more parishes voted in favour of the motion in the Oshawa and Peterborough deaneries than in any other deanery. Anglicans clearly recognize that the overdose crisis affects people in communities of all sizes across Ontario, and that the ban on new supervised consumption sites means that people in communities without those life-saving services will continue to go without them.

One of the things that helped many parishes come to grips with the issues behind the motion was inviting a speaker on the topic. I made presentations at St. Martin, Bay Ridges, St. Martin in-the-Fields, Toronto, and St. Peter, Erindale. The Rev. Barbara Russell, a member of the Social Justice and Advocacy Committee, spoke at her home parish of St. George, Grafton and at St. John, Bowmanville. Andrew Neelands, a parishioner and volunteer at St. Stephen in-the-Fields, was invited to speak at Grace Church on-the-Hill, while Keren Elumir, a parishioner of Church of the Resurrection and a nurse at the Moss Park consumption and treatment site, made a presentation at St. James Cathedral. All those parishes ended up passing the motion. Several other parishes, including All Saints, Collingwood, expressed thanks for the video Q&A and other resources provided by the Social Justice and Advocacy Committee.

Not all parishes embraced the motion, of course. Some clergy admitted that they hadn’t presented it this year, as they anticipated enough difficult discussions at vestry without adding the topic of harm reduction. A few parishes indicated that they had opened the topic for discussion but had decided not to put it to a vote.

That doesn’t mean that the conversation stops. On March 6, about 50 people from different church denominations attended a discussion hosted by Little Trinity called “Faith With Substance,” billed as a “theological and practical conversation about drug use and supervised consumption sites.” The Rev. Angie Hocking, one of the event’s organizers and presenters, described it as a success, saying it helped provide a safe space for people with concerns to have a theologically informed conversation about these issues.

“People said they learned a whole lot – new perspectives and things to consider that they had not known about before our evening together,” she said. “There was an optional naloxone training at the end of the event, which most people stayed for and were eager to learn how to help save a life worthy of saving.” Other parishes that have not passed the motion are also looking at ways to learn more about the issues.

On March 28, Justice John Callaghan of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice granted an interim injunction allowing the 10 supervised consumption sites set to be closed by provincial legislation to remain open, pending his review of the Charter challenge to that legislation. In his decision, Justice Callaghan said the harm to users of the sites that could result from closures outweighed the harm to the public on a time-limited basis while he considers the Charter challenge. “It is foreseeable that many more will overdose, and some of those will die,” he wrote.

A spokesperson for the Ministry of Health said the ruling will not change the province’s plans. Nine of the 10 sites had applied for funding to continue some of their operations under the province’s new HART (Homelessness and Addiction Recovery Treatment) hub model, and the province has made it clear that HART hub funding is contingent on the sites not seeking to continue offering supervised consumption services. In practice, those sites may not be able to continue functioning without provincial funding. The Kensington Market Overdose Prevention Site (KMOPS) will continue to operate on donations, as it has done since 2018.

The diocese continues to press for the reinstatement of harm reduction services as part of a comprehensive approach to public health. A template letter that can be used to advocate with the premier, the health minister and your local MPP can be found on the diocesan website at www.toronto.anglican.ca/vestry-motion.

While we are grateful for every parish that passed the motion, the success of the social justice vestry motion is not about how many parishes vote for it, but whether we as a diocese can have informed and faithful conversations about difficult issues facing our society. The opioid crisis is not something that happens to “those people over there.” Many of us, our friends and family have been touched by this crisis in one way or another. Knowing that each person has inherent value and dignity in the eyes of God, may we seek together how we can bring life, not harm, for each of our neighbours.