Dozens bid farewell to Kitchener’s CTS site during special event

Despite a court injunction, Kitchener’s supervised consumption site is shutting down. CTV’s Jeff Pickel explains why.

Dozens of people gathered for an emotional sendoff for Kitchener’s supervised Consumption Treatment Service (CTS) site.

Team members held a farewell party outside 150 Duke Street Monday night after the doors to the CTS closed one last time. Although a court injunction would allow the site to continue to operate legally, officials said a lack of funding and an expiring building lease has made it impossible to keep going.

Peer support worker Margo Wherry has been at the CTS since the beginning. She worries about the staff who have lost their jobs and the clients who used the services daily.

“We’ve become family, and it has become really difficult to let everyone go. Staff, clients – it’s hard. We’re all struggling with this – and then where do we go? What do we do now?” Wherry said.

It’s a sentiment echoed by other people who worked at the facility.

“It’s the worry clients have on a daily basis. They don’t know where to go after this. You know, we are a big family here, believe it or not. Everybody has different views of people who use drugs, but at the end of the day, we’re all just human. We want people to stay alive, and that’s it,” Leigh Wardlaw, who worked as a drug tracking lead, said.

Wardlaw offered some advice to help keep people safe now that the site has closed its doors.

“Always use with a buddy. Carry an extra Naloxone,” she said.

The team said they’re still holding out hope that a new location will be found, that funding will be allocated, and that they can get back up and running again.