Ontario court to hear Charter challenge on supervised consumption site law [Video]

An Ontario court will hear arguments Monday from a Toronto supervised consumption site challenging the legality of a new provincial law that will soon shut down 10 such sites and prevent new ones from opening.

The province passed legislation last year that banned consumption sites deemed too close to schools or daycares. The Neighbourhood Group, which runs the Kensington Market Overdose Prevention Site in downtown Toronto, launched a lawsuit in December along with two people who use the space.

“Safe consumption sites are not a perfect solution, but they are part of the solution,” the group’s lawyer, Carlo Di Carlo, said in an interview.

“It’s something that will minimize deaths and the spread of infectious disease and that will allow people to continue their fight to recover. And so that’s what’s at stake for not only our individual applicants, but anybody else throughout Ontario who’s in that position.”

The group …