Alyshah Hasham

Health Canada sent back Toronto's application for a drug decriminalization program more than a year ago with a list of questions and has yet to receive a reply, the Star

OTTAWA — Health Canada sent back Toronto's application for a drug decriminalization program more than a year ago with a list of questions and has yet to receive a reply, the Star has learned, but city officials insist their request is still in play. Whether it could ever pass muster with Ottawa remains in limbo as the federal government announced Tuesday it is scaling back Canada's lone pilot project that allows people to possess and use small amounts of otherwise-illegal hard drugs without fear of criminal charges. Mental Health and Addictions Minister Ya'ara Saks wouldn't say Tuesday whether her decision to grant British Columbia's request for a change to its exemption under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act would have any bearing on Toronto's application — in part because it has yet to reach her desk. But after days of questions about why that is, officials have now told the Star that Health Canada sent the application back to Toronto Public Health seeking more information — and no one has replied. “The request from Toronto Public Health was received more than two years ago and remains incomplete,” Saks's office told the Star. “Health Canada has not received anything for consideration in response to questions sent last year to determine whether the application adequately addressed the dual objectives of public health and public safety.” Saks's office declined to provide further details about the concerns Health Canada had expressed. Questions about the status of Toronto's 2022 application for an exemption resurfaced over the last several days in the wake of B.C.‘s decision to ask Ottawa for changes to its program. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Saks had suggested that Toronto's request would not be approved without buy-in from the Ontario government — and Premier Doug Ford has made it clear he does not support the bid. But Trudeau and Saks also demurred when asked why Toronto's request had yet to be approved or denied, creating confusion as to the exact status of the application. In a statement, Toronto Public Health spokesperson Dane Griffiths would only say “ongoing discussions” continue with Health Canada. “TPH's role is to provide decision-makers with the best possible advice, supported by the best possible evidence, regarding this issue,” Griffiths said, adding that Toronto's approach is consistent with the latest recommendations from both the top public health officials for Canada and Ontario. “Decriminalization is fundamentally about recognizing that addiction is a health issue which, in the city of Toronto alone, causes hundreds of preventable deaths every year,” Griffiths said. While Ford has indicated he would not support the application, Griffiths said Toronto Public Health “has not received a formal indication from the province that it does not support the request currently under review by Health Canada.” Toronto Public Health first called for drug decriminalization for personal use in 2018, and submitted its formal application in January 2022 — a move backed by the city's police chief and leading hospitals. The application was part of what city officials called a “made-in-Toronto” model to address the deadly toxic drugs crisis, and the added pressures created by arresting and charging people for the use of small amounts of illegal drugs. By the end of 2022, more than 500 people in Toronto had died after using toxic drugs, and paramedics were responding to hundreds of calls about non-fatal overdoses each month. Toronto's application was expanded in 2023 to, among other things, have the request for decriminalization apply to all public places except for primary and secondary schools, airports and child-care facilities. Toronto has also asked for the exemption to cover young people, and to be extended to all drugs. The request makes Toronto's bid broader than British Columbia's, which had only asked for its approach to apply to adults, and only for some specific drugs. Criminal charges also continued to apply in B.C. if drugs were used on school property or at child-care facilities, an approach B.C. modified last fall by asking for protections for other areas intended for use by young people. The change approved to B.C.‘s plan Tuesday will again make it illegal to use drugs in all public spaces. B.C.‘s request was prompted by mounting concerns of police and others — including many who support decriminalization — that allowing the use of illegal drugs in public was causing too much disorder. Opposition politicians in B.C. and on Parliament Hill had turned the issue into a political pressure point, accusing the provincial and federal governments of being responsible for skyrocketing rates of opioid deaths. The federal Conservatives held fast to that line Tuesday, urging the Liberal government to reject Toronto's application and admit the policy is a failure. “Canadians deserve to know what Trudeau is going to do next and whether he will impose his extreme policy elsewhere,” the party said in a statement. Saks pushed back against that narrative. “Decriminalization is about ensuring that people don't have to face stigma and actually go to get help,” she said. “I really am frustrated that the opposition has made this a dehumanizing debate for those who actually need our help, and that they don't recognize we need a full suite of tools to actually save lives.” Mayor Olivia Chow expressed frustration over the handling of Toronto's application, saying whenever she's raised the issue with the federal government, she's been told to talk to the provincial government, which in turn says the focus should be on drug treatment. Chow said she hasn't seen action on that front, either. “What the best, ideal scenario is, is for the federal government and provincial government to stop pointing fingers at each other and do a comprehensive treatment program,” she said. Chow said the services and supports that are currently needed alongside decriminalization are piecemeal and inadequate, as is access to stable housing. The focus on decriminalization “masks the real need, the discussion of where are the drug treatment programs,” she said.

A blunt two-page letter reiterates that the province is “100 per cent opposed” to the Toronto proposal.

Toronto's proposal ‘does not adequately protect public health and maintain public safety' said federal Mental Health and Addictions Minister Ya'ara Saks.

Others had already been expressing skepticism over the city's ask, saying the focus on decriminalization is an unhelpful distraction from the lack of progress on other solutions to the drug toxicity problem.

Toronto Public Health called the loss of life from the drug toxicity epidemic a “human tragedy.”

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