Report of
the Issues Table
of the
Ottawa
Integrated Drugs and Addictions Strategy
Submitted to
The Steering
Committee
of the
Ottawa Integrated Drugs & Addictions Strategy
May 28, 2007
Executive Summary
On
May 11, 2005 Council directed that an Integrated Drug Strategy for Ottawa be
developed in response to the need to address the most critical drug-related
issues in an integrated way across the whole population. Based on service provider and community
consultations, it was recommended that issue planning tables be established to
seek solutions related to:
a)
The co-ordination
between City services, other service providers and key community stakeholders
enabling neighbourhoods to deal with drug-related problems; and
b)
Balancing the need to
address the HIV and Hepatitis C rate among the drug using population in Ottawa
while addressing the concerns of the community and the safety of front line
workers.
The
complexity of this task is best summarized in the following statement from an
interview with Wolfgang Götz, Director of European Monitoring Centre for Drugs
and Addiction:
Local authorities have to deal with an apparent
conflict. On the one hand, they are
expected to help drug users, guiding them into treatment and making sure they
have a certain quality of life. On the
other hand, they need to protect the wider community against crime and public
nuisance. From this perspective, local
authorities always have to find the best compromise between law enforcement and
social and healthcare interventions
(http://www.eukn.org/eukn/news/2007/04/interview-mr-gotz-emcdda_1011.html)
Based on the
experience of over 30 cities in various countries in the European Union and
beyond, an international criminal justice forum concluded that “the complexity
of the problem requires a multi-faceted response developed and implemented in
partnership between relevant agencies and stakeholders” (“Responding to open
drug scenes and drug-related crime and public nuisance- towards a partnership
approach,” John Connoly, Pompidou Group, Strasbourg, August 2006).
For this
reason, the Issues Table was comprised of a diversity of stakeholders,
including community representatives, consumers, police, public health,
addiction and social service agencies. Over
several months, the group met to identify key issues of concern surrounding
drug use, including its impact on HIV/HCV rates and its impact on public
disorder, as well as solutions which incorporate a 4-pillar coordinated and
integrated approach. Although the
Issues Committee came up with 20 recommendations, only 14 recommendations
received majority support, indicating the diversity of viewpoints and the
importance of on-going dialogue.
1.
We recommend a one-year
pilot initiative, with an evaluation component (report card), that coordinates
existing internal city services (police, public health, bylaw services, fire,
paramedics and employment and financial assistance), the drug court, private
security, community services (eg. outreach, mental health & addiction),
people who use substances and other stakeholders to respond proactively to
non-crisis public disorder incidents and problematic drug use (eg. police
address illegal drug use while a community outreach worker engages the person
who is using drugs in motivational counselling). This would not replace 9-1-1 calls in the case of
life-threatening emergencies and/or crime in progress. There would be a
centralized telephone number for the general public to use to access this
integrated response, although the integrated service response would be
proactive and not wait for the community to call. The feasibility of offering this pilot in French as well as
English would be explored.
The Issues Planning Committee supports the motion accepted by the
Community Protective Services Committee and brought forward by Councillor
Bédard that is aimed at integrating a coordinated response to problematic
addresses in Rideau-Vanier. The
feasibility of integrating or coordinating these two initiatives, as well as
the City of Ottawa initiative, “No Community Left Behind,” would be explored.
Outreach
Legislation
12. We recommend that the IDAS task force continue to
establish and develop their relationship and partnerships with those involved
in the Steering Committee and the Working Group such as the Ottawa Police
Service, Crime Prevention Ottawa, the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health
(CAMH), Ottawa Public Health, BIA and, community representatives within affected
communities in order to share information and develop a strong internal
communications strategy.
Issues Table Membership:
ü Alfred Cormier,
CAMH (Co-Chair)
ü Niki Economo,
United Way (Co-Chair)
ü Public Health
ü Ottawa Police
ü Rideau-Vanier BIA
ü Dalhousie Safety
Committee
ü Sandy Hill CHC-
OASIS
ü Salvation Army
ü CMHA
ü Maison Fraternité
ü Crime Prevention
Ottawa
ü Youth Services
Bureau
ü Consumers (youth
& adult)
ü Robert Smart
ü Carleton
University School of Journalism & Mass Communication
Writer: Peter Williams,
CAMH