Greater Sudbury commits funding for study into supervised injection site

Greater Sudbury says it will chip in $60,000 to help fund a feasibility study into safe injection sites.

City council approved the money Tuesday night.

The provincial government is still reviewing whether safe injection sites—designated locations where intravenous drugs can be consumed safely— "have merit" and are worth continuing.

In Sudbury, the Community Drug Strategy Executive Committee is leading the charge to get one in the city.

It was this group that requested the funding from the municipality since the provincial government hasn't been clear if it wants to help cities with the cost.

One Sudbury city councillor says the city needs to learn everything it can about safe injection sites.

To do that, Fern Cormier says $60,000 for a study is a small investment.

"The tiny commitment is nothing in comparison to what families lose every single day, who are struggling with this in our communities and others," he said.

Not every city councillor thought the money for the research would be well spent.

"OK now we're going to pay for this feasibility study. We don't know if there's going be funding from the province, so what's the next step? Are going to be asked to fund the entire program?" said Ward 5 councillor Robert Kirwan.

The Northeast Local Health Integration Network (which is part of the Ministry of Health, which isn't funding these safe injection sites) and the Canadian Mental Health Association will each be adding $10,000 toward the study.

There's no hard timeline on when the feasibility study will begin, but it is expected to take one year to complete.