For years, Ward 2 Coun. Luke Dufour has been fielding emails from residents who say they are being negatively affected by the opioid crisis that has gripped this city.
During a meeting of city council on Tuesday, Dufour implored those people and anyone else affected to send letters to Ontario's health minister in support of a Homelessness and Addiction Recovery Treatment (HART) Hub to be built in Sault Ste. Marie.
“If there was ever a time for Sault Ste. Marie to make their case for actually having drug treatment options available . . . now is the time," Dufour said during the meeting.
Dufour applauded the form letter that Mayor Matthew Shoemaker has made available on his web site, which allows concerned residents to ask Health Minister Sylvia Jones to consider the Sault for one of 19 HART Hubs that are expected to become operational in the province by 2026.
As of Tuesday, more than 600 people have clicked on the page dedicated to the letter-writing campaign.
"It’s important they hear from the mayor but in my opinion it’s also important for them to hear from community members in Sault Ste. Marie that have been affected by the opioid crisis," said Dufour.
"That could be folks who have lost members of their families or loved ones to the opioid crisis, that could be people who are business owners who have been affected by some of the other symptoms of the opioid crisis.
"I think each and every person in our community who has been affected by this crisis needs to share their experiences with the people who are being tasked with making this important decision right now," he added.
Although 19 communities will be approved for HART Hubs, Nickel Belt MPP France Gélinas told SooToday last week that she has heard hundreds of municipalities are applying for them. If that is the case, only a small percentage of communities who want a HART Hub will actually receive one.
The program will add as many as 375 highly supportive housing units across the province, as well as addiction recovery and treatment beds. CAO Tom Vair said he expects the province to decide which communities will receive the hubs early in the new year.
Last week, Shoemaker told SooToday the very fact that Sault Ste. Marie has recorded the worst opioid toxicity death rate in the province for the first two quarters of 2024 proves this community should be at the top of the list for a HART Hub.
During Tuesday's meeting of city council, Shoemaker predicted those grim statistics will continue if the city doesn't receive support from the province.
“Without a significant change to what we are currently doing, we will continue to have the highest rates of opioid overdoses and deaths across Ontario, and we are not the biggest city in Ontario, to nobody's surprise, so we should not be at the top of the list for opioid overdoses and deaths," he said.
In her comments, Ward 3 Coun. Angela Caputo agreed that the personal approach from residents may be the best way to get the attention of the provincial government.
“I personally have heard so many heart-wrenching personal stories about the opioid crisis and I would encourage anyone who is able to do so — physically, emotionally and however — tweet your own stories forward to the minister," said Caputo.
"It’s one thing to copy and paste a well-written letter from Mayor Shoemaker, but it’s quite another thing for someone to hear your own personal story, how you have lost somebody or maybe a story of recovery.”