LILLEY: Death drop after Ford defied safe-site activists
· Toronto Sun
See more Toronto Sun on Google — save as a Preferred Source
Visit h-doctor.club for more information.
When Ontario’s Ford government announced in August 2024 that it would shut down so-called “safe consumption” drug sites, activists warned of increased deaths. Instead, the opposite has happened. As the province has pivoted from aiding and abetting drug addicts to offering treatment, drug deaths have fallen significantly.
According to data from the Ontario Coroner’s Office , opioid overdose deaths province-wide dropped 37.5% from 2024 to 2025. In the City of Toronto, opioid overdose deaths dropped 45% year over year.
That’s a far cry from what was predicted.
A spokesperson for Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow told CBC at the time of the announcement two years ago that it would “ have significant consequences, such as increased overdose deaths .” In that same story, a woman named Diana Chan McNally, who was identified as a harm reduction expert, called the move “a deadly mistake.” Chan McNally is now running to be a Toronto city councillor in Parkdale-High Park and is backed by the same outfit backing Chow, Progress Toronto.
The harm reduction industry has been exposed for the frauds they are by the one stat they cannot dispute: fewer people are dying.
They predicted the exact opposite.
The numbers don’t lie
For years, we were told that we should embrace their philosophy to save lives. Instead, opioid deaths went up year after year as we handed out more needles, more crack pipes, established more “safe consumption sites” and blindly followed their ideology.
Opioid deaths in Ontario had been creeping up slowly over the last decade, especially with the arrival of fentanyl, which began crowding out other opioids starting in 2016. During the pandemic, overdose deaths spiked, going from 1,565 deaths, or 10.7 per 100,000 population, in 2019 to 2,880 deaths and 19.4 per 100,000 in 2021.
The numbers dropped a little in 2022, 2023 and 2024 but remained elevated, with 2,268 deaths in 2024 for a per capita rate of 14.5.
All of the experts, people given large and unquestioning platforms by most of the media, said that the Ford government’s 2024 changes would lead to more people dying in the streets.
NDP Leader Marit Stiles said the government was putting ideology ahead of saving lives.
“To take away these services in the midst of a crisis is going to cost lives,” Stiles told the Globe and Mail at the time .
Academics and public health officials agreed and denounced the policy move.
Dr. Doris Grinspun, CEO of the Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario, was adamant the sites stay open.
“We cannot afford to lose more lives to policies driven by ideology rather than health care,” Grinspun said at the time .
The experts get it wrong
Two years later, with numbers falling and more treatment centres helping people recover, the RNAO is still warning of pending deaths .
🚨 URGENT: Removing supervised consumption sites will cost lives. These services not only help prevent deaths and reduce emergency room visits, but also connect people with the care they need.
— RNAO (@RNAO) September 28, 2026
Join us in urging Premier @fordnation to reverse the decision to close supervised… pic.twitter.com/052ePkxVsO
Here’s the reality.
In 2025, Ontario had 1,417 opioid overdose deaths, the lowest number since 2017. Given Ontario’s population growth, the 8.7 deaths per 100,000 population was the lowest rate since the province recorded 6.3 deaths per 100,000 population in 2016.
Toronto alone went from 468 opioid overdose deaths in 2024 to 260 in 2025, a 44% drop .
And still, the activists who were allowed to run Ontario’s policy on this issue for so many years won’t accept reality: fewer people are dying.
When the Ford government announced that it would end funding and force the closure of safe consumption sites across much of the province, it didn’t just walk away from the issue of addiction. It embraced treatment and recovery in a way no previous government at Queen’s Park had.
Recovery over ideology
The plan was to open what they called Homelessness and Addiction Recovery Treatment (HART) Hubs. Last week, the 29th such centre opened in Kingston, providing services such as beds, rest areas, shower facilities, a connection to primary care, mental health and addictions services, and more.
What they don’t provide is access to drugs or drug paraphernalia.
“Our government is focused on real solutions that provide those struggling with addiction with the supports they need to break the tragic cycle of addiction,” Deputy Premier and Minister of Health Sylvia Jones said at the opening .
“We’re connecting vulnerable people to the treatment and recovery services they need to rebuild their lives, while protecting Ontario communities from the impacts of illegal drug use.”
The all-too-harsh impacts of that illegal drug use can be seen in communities across the province. The answer to the pain and misery we see isn’t to continue with the failed policies of harm reduction, so-called safe consumption or safe supply.
The answer is to help people recover their lives from the clutches of addiction.
As for the politicians and experts who told us to cling to those failed policies, they were wrong. The numbers prove it. It’s time to turn our backs on them.