Meeting my MPP: Part III 

In this series, F-Word is highlighting the experiences of three ONA members who met with their MPPs to discuss the Ford government’s disastrous closure of supervised consumption sites (SCS), and who encourage other members to do the same.

But it took a while. 

“I went to ONA’s briefing on supervised consumption sites and a staff member reached out looking for members who were interested in meeting with their MPP,” explains Antolin. “Starting last March, I probably sent at least six or seven emails to my Conservative MPP Donna Skelly (Flamborough-Glanbrook) to set up a meeting, but there was no response. I also called and gave my information to her staff, but I still heard nothing.” 

So, it came as a surprise to Antolin late last October when one of her emails finally got attention and a meeting was set up in Skelly’s office. To prepare, she met with ONA Government Relations and Mobilizing staff, “who gave me everything I needed to get through that meeting,” including tips, talking points and material to leave with her MPP, who is also the first female Speaker of the House.  

These MPP meetings are the latest in ONA’s continuing efforts to fight back against the Ford government’s closing of nine provincially funded SCSs last spring due to their proximity to schools and daycares, banning of new sites from opening and defunding of remaining sites. Instead, they shifted from a harm reduction to an “abstinence-based approach” by launching new homelessness and addiction recovery treatment (HART) hubs. Read more here. 

“At the meeting, I talked about the benefit these sites add to our health-care system and to the clients they're serving,” says Antolin, who attended the hour-long meeting with a fellow member.  

Nowhere to go 

“My MPP brought up the HART clinics, but those hubs are essentially telling people that they're going to rehab and treatment. I told her we can’t decide when somebody's ready to stop using drugs. We have to meet them where they're at. The Ford government doesn’t want people using these drugs near a playground, etc., but where do they think they're going to use them if they don't have supervised consumption sites? Emergency departments are already overflowing, and if these patients don’t have somewhere they can safely do drugs, they're going to end up there. There is also a homeless population that uses these sites.  

“My MPP’s idea was having some institutions or treatment centres care for them, like how Hamilton Health Sciences cares for burn victims as a regional burn centre. I snapped back, ‘who do you think is staffing these clinics when we have a staff shortage in hospitals and other health-care sectors? We don’t have a health-care system that can support this. We don’t have housing.’ I also told her that I can go to the corner store and get a can of beer right now, so we're making things very accessible.”  

While Antolin notes that her MPP was very pleasant and friendly throughout their discussion, listening attentively and thanking them for having a frank and open conversation with her, she focused a lot on the “good work” her government is doing in health care, and distracted from the issue at times. A member of her staff who attended with a clipboard in hand, also didn’t take any notes. But Skelly accepted the material from our members, who asked that she ensure Premier Ford and Health Minister Sylvia Jones see it and have a conversation with her.  

“The final thing I left her with is that nurses and health-care professionals like me and my colleague want to be at the table when they’re making these kinds of decisions,” she says. “If we're not part of the conversation, how can they hear what the people on the front lines who are going to be doing this work think?”

Open door

Antolin and her colleague also left the door open for more conversations. 

“I didn’t go to the meeting with an expectation that a single conversation was going save all the sites, but I wanted to keep the door open so we can have continual discussions. If I went in there with all guns blazing, she wouldn't invite me back.” 

And, as she points out, additional education needs to happen. 

“People don't understand the importance of supervised consumption sites. It’s more than clean needles. They help with social work supports and housing and provide some primary care treatment – all things that these clients probably wouldn't get unless they were going to those sites because many feel too stigmatized to go to a doctor's office. These sites are a safe place for them to feel that they can maybe talk about something else that's going on with their health. 

“Someone recently said to me that we shouldn’t be paying for people to use drugs, and I replied that we're not. People are using drugs regardless, and we don't know the circumstance that led them to do so. If we can have them use clean drugs in a safe environment, it takes them away from the streets and out of the hospital bed that you or your loved one might need. Do I dream of a world where we don't have people using those drugs? Of course, but I don't see that happening anytime soon, and so we need something to support the people we have in our community.” 

And, she implores other members to do their part as well. 

“MPPs may hold a title, but they're just people in our community as well. And they’re here to have conversations about matters that impact you and your community. If you are able to meet with your MPP, you will be fully supported by ONA staff on how to manage that conversation. It’s definitely worth a shot because imagine if we all did it? There is power in numbers.”