Ontario premier defends supervised drug consumption site closures as experts recommend more open [Video]

Premier Doug Ford is defending his government’s decision to shutter 10 of Ontario’s 23 supervised drug consumption sites due to their proximity to schools and child care centres.

“I just don’t believe safe consumption sites. I’ve listened to the people in the neighbourhoods. I’ve consulted with them. I’ve been getting endless phone calls about needles being in the parks, needles being by the schools, and by the daycares. That’s unacceptable,” Ford told reporters following an unrelated news conference in St. Catharine’s on Wednesday afternoon.

“Giving someone, an addict, a place to do their injections, we haven’t seen it get better. This was supposed to be the greatest thing since sliced bread. It’s the worst thing that could ever happen to a community to have one of these safe injection sites in their neighbourhood.”

The ban, which was officially announced on Tuesday afternoon, will impact nine provincially funded Consumption and Treatment …