Response to Conjoint Letter from GCA, Glebe BIA and GNAG re: Neighbourhood health and safety

Thu, Dec 21, 2023, 8:31 AM
To GCA Secretary, Mark Sutcliffe, Shawn Menard, GCA President, Glebe BIA, GNAG, OPH

Dear Janet Sutherland (GCA Secretary),

Thank you for your patience as we prepared this response requiring consultation between multiple city departments. We appreciate your concerns and hope the information provided below is helpful to you.

Ottawa Public Health (OPH) continues to work with numerous partner agencies to take a broad approach to mental health and substance use health in Ottawa. We know the pandemic and on-going overdose crisis have exacerbated mental health and substance use challenges for people in our communities. Our approach recognizes the impact on mental health from societal conditions, such as income, access to housing, access to culturally appropriate treatment services, and respects the importance of equity, culture, and positive connections with family and community and the effect these factors have on well-being.

Improperly discarded drug paraphernalia found in our communities is an important priority. OPH works with many City and community partners to offer options for safe and convenient needle retrieval and disposal. The City’s Integrated Response to discarded needles includes departments responding to 3-1-1 Service Requests from residents reporting improperly discarded needles on public property in their community. City services are allocated towards the maintenance of public property and private property owners are responsible for maintaining their own property.

Public Works adheres to the Council approved Maintenance Quality Standards when responding to calls for discarded needles on public property. The standards outline that discarded needles are to be picked up within 1 hour during weekdays during regular work hours and within 2 hours on weekends, holidays, and outside of regular work hours.

By-law and Regulatory Services will respond to calls for discarded needles on private property IF it poses a risk to the public i.e., is publicly accessible (e.g., includes parking lots, front lawns, etc.). In terms of response time, a discarded needle is a priority 1 call for By-Law and as such, is responded to immediately (within 1 hour). Non-publicly accessible areas on private property including backyards, apartment unit, etc. are the responsibility of the private property owner. This approach is consistent with other municipalities across the province.

OPH, along with several City and community partners, have also implemented a variety of measures to ensure that needles are properly disposed, including:
o  Needle Hunters program that proactively sweeps public property for improperly discarded needles in neighbourhoods that have demonstrated a need. Needle Hunters routes are updated as required based on data analyses from all sources along with community input.
o ~ 80 needle drop boxes are located across the city. For locations of needle drop box locations, please visit the Needle Drop Box Locations Map.
o Harm Reduction Services & Partner Programs
o Participating pharmacies (~ 70) in the Take It Back program
o Household Hazardous Waste program
o By spring 2024, discarded needles kits will be available to residents and business owners who would like support with needle retrieval. These kits will provide safe needle retrieval tools, training resources, and disposal options. These kits will be available for pick up and drop off at participating partners across the city.

OPH’s Community Needle Retrieval Program reviewed the reported data for the Glebe community, and the numbers are low. We are seeing less than 10 discarded needles reported from this neighbourhood over the last few years. Due to the low numbers of discarded needles reported, the Glebe does not have existing needle hunter routes, nor are there any needle drop boxes currently located in this community. There was previously a drop box at the Fire Station on 635 O’Connor St but was removed this past September due to low usage.

Although there are no boxes within the Glebe proper, nearby needle drop boxes are located at:

o Social Service Hub, 370 Catherine St
o Centre 507, 507 Bank St
o Civic Hospital, 737 Parkdale Ave
o Civic Hospital, 1053 Carling Ave
o Aids Committee of Ottawa, 19 Main St
o Riverside Hospital, 1967 Riverside Dr

Community members are a key source of information for Ottawa Public Health’s safe needle retrieval and disposal operational service planning. As eyes-on-the ground, the public are often the first on scene to report and/or retrieve needles that have been improperly discarded. When the community reports their needle findings to Ottawa Public Health, the information is integrated into the City’s master data which is then used to identify needs and service allocation. Public reporting identifies needs in the community.

We strongly encourage residents to report discarded needle findings. Members of the community have two options:
1) Resident would like a city staff to retrieve and dispose of the item on public property:
• Call 311 to Report Discarded Needle or Drug Paraphernalia.
• City staff will retrieve the item and report the finding to Ottawa Public Health.
2) Resident is comfortable to retrieve and safely dispose of the item on their own accord:
• Follow the safe-handling guidelines to retrieve the item and dispose of it in the nearest needle drop box (see nearby locations).
• Report the finding to Ottawa Public Health through the Drug Paraphernalia Form (ENG) (FRE).

Thank you again for raising your concerns with us.

Kind regards,

Krista Oswald
Ottawa Public Health | Santé publique Ottawa
Legislative Affairs and Strategic Engagement | Affaires législatives et engagement stratégique