The Ford government wants Toronto to abandon its request to decriminalize illegal drug use and warned that if the city still goes ahead, the province will "be forced to explore all options available."
"Ontario is 100 per cent opposed to your proposal," Health Minister Sylvia Jones and Solicitor General Michael Kerzner wrote in a letter to Toronto Public Health on Thursday.
"Under no circumstances will our government ever support your request (to the federal government), which would only add to crime and public drug use while doing nothing to support people struggling with addiction. We will also be making our opposition clear to the federal government."
Toronto city councillor Chris Moise, who chairs the city's board of health, said he has "no intention" of pulling the request.
"I stand by the initial letter and (will) let the other levels of government decide what they want to do," Moise said at a Thursday afternoon press conference.
In 2022, Toronto asked the federal government to decriminalize small amounts of illegal drugs for personal use. Health Canada is still reviewing the request but needs more information from the city, according to recent comments from Federal Mental Health Minister Ya'ara Saks.
British Columbia recently asked the federal government to recriminalize public use of hard drugs after a year-long pilot project stoked public anger. Adults can still carry small amounts of drugs but can't use them in public.
"Addiction is a health matter, not a criminal justice one, but that doesn't mean that anything goes," said Mike Farnworth, B.C.'s public safety minister, earlier this month.
The Tories seized on B.C.'s experience in the letter to Toronto.
"We are frankly surprised that, in the aftermath of British Columbia’s decision to walk back its decriminalization experiment, Toronto Public Health has not already rescinded its request," Jones and Kerzner wrote.
"The recent disastrous examples of British Columbia and other jurisdictions that have attempted this experiment are just the latest examples that show decriminalization does not work. Instead, it encourages dangerous behaviour in public spaces, victimizes innocent people and undermines law enforcement’s ability to protect our communities," the pair added.
The letter also indicated the province has finished a review of safe consumption sites it struck in the wake of a July 2023 shooting that killed a woman near Toronto's South Riverdale Community Health Centre.
In October, Mental Health and Addictions Minister Michael Tibollo said the review would determine what protocols should be in place for each of the province's 17 consumption and treatment sites. He also said the province does not want to open additional sites until the new protocols are implemented. At least five sites have applications pending approval before the province.
The province will "begin enacting enhanced accountability measures for existing consumption and treatment services sites to ensure that the safety and well-being of the public is protected," the letter said.
In a statement to The Trillium, Jones wouldn't elaborate on what the new measures are but said the government will provide more details in the coming weeks.
Kerzner also didn't budge while speaking to reporters Thursday afternoon.
NDP health critic France Gélinas was no fan of the letter.
"What (Toronto Public Health) is trying to do is trying to keep people alive long enough to be able to link them to care so that they can have the support they need," she said. "When we have a minister of health that uses very aggressive language to tell health professionals that they cannot keep their people alive long enough to receive care, I can't support this."
She also raised concerns about the government's safe consumption site review.
"I've asked everybody in the sector who's working on that review. I haven't been able to find anybody who's working on that review," she said. "To me, this work was an excuse for the government to shut the supervised consumption sites down, not have to fund them. I am afraid of what the next step from that government will be."
-With files from Jessica Smith Cross
