Cambridge residents that gathered at one of the two proposed consumption and treatment services (CTS) sites Saturday said the fight isn't over and will continue until council hears their voices.
"We're here to stand united with voices in our city that are demanding better services for all of our community members," said Clifford Vanclief, a resident of the neighbourhood where one of the two sites is proposed. He was speaking to a crowd of approximately 70 people gathered Saturday at 8 Oxford St. The other location is 15 Easton St.
"As a recovering addict myself, I fully understand the need for rehabilitation for those suffering from addiction," said Vanclief. "Today, I am clean. I am clean through rehab and rehab support services. A standalone CTS site does not offer a lifeline to those in need. We need our federal and provincial governments to find solutions for treatment and homelessness.
"We need to give those suffering a sense of purpose, a sense of belonging, and improved quality of life," he said. "A CTS site does not do this. Closely tied to our homelessness and addiction issues are the crimes that are occurring across the city."
Many of those attending the protest, such as Marion Butcher, had stories to share.
"I've been in the neighbourhood for 36 years," said the neighbourhood resident. "We've had things stolen from our property, mostly bikes when my kids were younger."
Cindy Rocha, who runs a private daycare in the area, said she's had a couple parents express concerns about the possibility of a CTS site being only a few hundred metres from where their children might be.
She said she'd had her garage broken into and people have trespassed in her backyard.
"Beside my house is an abandoned church building so they're hanging out there," Rocha said, adding, "Would you bring your daycare kid to my house? At my house, (the kids are) going to be safe because I'm there. But I don't feel safe putting the kids in my backyard or going for a walk with them."
Neighbour Dina Neves, who runs an accounting business out of her house on the corner of Bond and Oxford Streets, had similar concerns.
"I have two granddaughters and I take them for a walk, even when I take my dog for a walk, it's kind of scary," she said. "I've had my cars broken into. We have to keep everything locked. I've lived here since I was seven. It's always been a nice neighbourhood. You have kids coming from the daycare and you have elderly people who are here since I was here."
James Dover, who started the Facebook group called No To CTS Site, said they support treatment and rehabilitation.
"What we're against with the consumption and treatment site is the consumption aspect of it," he said. "We don't believe an illegal substance should be consumed. They're exempt. But that's what we're against. There isn't any exemption for any other law where all of a sudden you can do illegal things. That's what I'm against, there shouldn't be that exemption."
Dover, who is a high school teacher, was also concerned about having a CTS site close to educational institutions.
"There's a high school 500-metres away and if they wanted to access drugs, they would be within walking distance of this consumption site," he said.
Rick Heidenreich, who has lived on the nearby Brook Street for 13 years, agreed with Dover's stance on treatment and rehabilitation.
"We're hoping that when people go into drug rehab there's more of a long endgame," he said. "The CTS site, we feel, is just a Band Aid for a broken leg. And it's just a way for the government to show they're doing something but it's not going to be a good long run for people that go through it. They're just going to end up going back to their ways. They're encouraging, more than anything, we feel, to consume drugs."
Heidenreich said he hadn't researched exactly how a long-term treatment service could be provided.
"There's so much information out there," he said. "There's a lot more to this. The protest is not against the homeless or mental health or drug addiction, it's about finding better solutions for the whole community so everybody can be happy."
But Judah Oudshoorn, who was with a group of counter-protestors, supporting the site, said such set-ups are really important for saving people's lives.
"We're in the midst of an opioid crisis and we need to take steps that actually save peoples lives," said the Kitchener resident. "The thing about CTSs is that when you have them in neighbourhoods, crime is reduced.
"People have somewhere to go where they can use drugs that they can use safely," Oudshoorn said. "It takes away the search and need to go out and potentially do crime in neighbourhoods."
For some people, he said, a CTS is a step toward treatment.
"(It) is an important part of that continuum," Oudshoorn said. "Some people don't have access to treatment, unless there is a CTS available. The important thing is about saving people's lives. Treatment is one pathway, but we're also in an opioid epidemic and need to do things that save people's lives."
Butcher said she wasn't against a CTS site, just that it shouldn't be in a residential neighbourhood.
"There are a number of schools around here, a lot of older people who have been in the neighbourhood forever," she said. "My recommendation would be 150 Main St., where the social services is. That's just one spot. It could be at the hospital or a vacant business outside of the residential area."
Neves concurred.
"Why not get them treatment and take them to rehab? Why encourage it's ok to do it because you're safe?" she said. "That's not okay, that's killing them. It's not good for them. They're not living. They're just there. To me, it makes them think they're offering us a safe place so it's okay to do it. Spend the money on rehab to get the treatment."
The city is collecting feedback online until July 30.
