Canada

But on Nov. 7, just two weeks before the site’s provincial funding was to run out, Health Canada said it would require the centre to meet two new conditions.

The first was that the site secure its own funding, which Robertson says was possible to do for one year.

Health Canada’s second condition was that the site create a “community safety plan” that was approved by local police. The site had only eight days to comply, according to Robertson.

Robertson says that the government’s language indicated the site was expected to take responsibility for vandalism, theft and disorder — not just on its property but across the entire neighbourhood.

“That one was a threshold we couldn’t meet,” Robertson tells The Grind. “We felt that was a significant tall order to ask a [consumption and treatment service] to be responsible for public safety in Parkdale.”