Toronto mayoral candidate Anthony Furey said he will halt the planned creation of two new drug injection sites and redirect resources into treatment facilities..“People see what’s happening in Vancouver and San Francisco, and they don’t want it to happen here,” said Furey in a Wednesday press release..“We are seeing awful things happen on the streets of those cities.” .If people want to keep Toronto safe, Furey said they have to “put the brakes on the drug culture.” He said police officers and health professionals tell him many random attacks people are seeing are related to the drug crisis..The Toronto mayoral candidate went on to say a compassionate society does not keep people on drugs. It helps them get off drugs..The City of Toronto announced plans to create two new injection sites in collaboration with University Health Network and Unity Health. Instead of proceeding with those plans, he will instruct Toronto Public Health (TPH) to work with these organizations to pivot these projects into treatment centres..As the number of injection sites increased across Canada, Furey said so has the number of overdose deaths and violence. He added this is an unsustainable solution..He announced plans for TPH to work with the Toronto Police Service and its provincial health partners to push for more mandatory treatment options..Provincial law allows for a physician to admit a person for mandatory treatment under specific circumstances. The system does not encourage this approach, and physicians have called for more options and support..Furey concluded by saying there are “people who are not able to care for themselves and are a danger to others who should not be allowed to roam free.”.He said police officers and health professionals should be supported and encouraged by the system to place more people into mandatory treatment..“It’s the most humane and safest path forward,” he said..Toronto Mayor John Tory announced in February — hours after the Toronto Star reported he had an affair with a staffer — he would resign..READ MORE: Toronto Mayor John Tory to resign after relationship with staffer.“During the pandemic, I developed a relationship with an employee in my office in a way that did not meet the standards to which I hold myself as mayor and as a family,” said Tory..“I recognize that permitting this relationship to develop was a serious error in judgment on my part.”
