A petition calling for Hamilton City Council to designate public libraries as safe drug consumption sites will be debated at the upcoming meeting of Hamilton’s Public Health Sub-Committee.
The 115 signatories want the City of Hamilton to create and fund ‘safe drug consumption sites’ outside Hamilton’s public libraries.
The petition requests that the City install heated shelters, similar to those used for bus stops, outside libraries to reduce indoor drug use. It states that there should be “no cameras” monitoring these spaces because trained staff should be present at all times.
The petition states that the City should begin at the Central, Barton, and Red Hill branches.
It also calls for increasing the “availability of social services AT” libraries. [Petition’s emphasis.]
The provincial government closed Hamilton’s supervised consumption site as part of a province-wide policy change to implement treatment-focused HART sites, which Premier Doug Ford says will better assist people to get supports towards permanent housing and to address addictions.
Petitioner Tyler Dhaliwal will delegate and present the petition to the committee.
The Committee will meet on Monday, April 28, 2025, beginning at 9:30 a.m.
Public correspondence can be sent to clerks@hamilton.ca, or delegation requests made on the City website, until 12:00 noon on Friday.
Addendum:
Ward 2 Councillor Cameron Kroetsch, who chairs the Public Health Sub-Committee, posted to Facebook this evening to state the petitioners have the right to delegate to Council, and that the petition is included in the agenda package “so everyone could see it.”
“It’s there for information, not for approval, just so the citizen members of the Sub-Committee didn’t have trouble finding it. I did this to ensure it was accessible and easy to find and for no other reason,” he writes.
The petition is captured in the image below.
Production Details
v. 1.0.0
Published: April 23, 2025
Last updated: April 23, 2025
Author: Joey Coleman
Update Record
v. 1.0.0 original version
v. 1.1.0 added Facebook comments posted by Clr Kroetsch
There should be no safe consumption sites . Kids should not see anything like that at parks libraries or anywhere..our tax dollars should not support or pay for this.
I 100% agree that the library should not be a safe consumption site, nor is it going to be. That said, when we shut down actual safe consumption sites, as Doug Ford’s government has done, we end up with way more people doing drugs in parks, libraries, and other public spaces, which then become UNsafe consumption sites. Without safe consumption sites, people don’t stop abusing drugs, they just overdose more frequently in public and private places, and are more likely to die instead of having the chance to recover. We need safe consumption sites that are actually designed for that purpose, and we need other social interventions, such as affordable housing, safe places to detox, mental health services, well-funded medical care, and so on. This crisis would never have gotten so bad if we hadn’t defunded so many vital services in our communities over the last few decades. When people don’t have their basic needs met, when they are abandoned by society to live and die on the streets, how can they overcome substance use disorder? Even those who didn’t start out addicted end up so when they are forced to live under such horrible conditions, as the use of drugs is a way to escape their reality.
Safe injection sites are useful but currently not allowed per the Ontario Govt. Especially not at or near a library if allowed. The Barton St library is full of homeless people, not sharing tables,chairs, reading material, the washrooms or being relatively quiet. They need a better place to go. Why is the City of Hamilton not doing something? And why add more drug addicts to the libraries. Libraries and librarians are not social housing specialists. I would like to know if any of the petition signatories live in the areas and use the libraries they’ve suggested.
Hell no!!! Start a counter petition. Library employees have enough to deal with, as the library is treated like a homeless shelter already. The first floor of Central is almost entirely used by people strung out or sleeping. The library is not a daycare for drug addicts.
I’m absolutely against Libraries as a location for safe injection sites. Many elderly people and families with young children use the libraries consistently. I believe the location of safe injection sites shouldn’t be placed near spaces where the elderly and children are regularly attending.
I do believe safe sites are important but it would be negligent to ignore potential negative impacts by situating sites in in appropriate locations.
If I am a visitor to our city & drive down York street to enter the main part of the city I would take a dim view of this city.
Our homeless are camped out in front of the Salvation on the north side & now you want to add an injection site on the south side…I would be reluctant to get out of my car to go to the market or the library!!
Perhaps police stations would be a more appropriate place to put them. How can ANYONE think libraries are a good spot for drug addicts to congregate? How about out front of City Hall, there is room there.
We prioritize the lowest common denominator over our children, the future of our country. Our libraries should be for public learning, enjoyment, and safe places where our children can learn and grow. Activists doing endlessly more harm than good.