Pubdate: Wed, 13 Feb 2013
Source: Manitoulin Expositor (CN ON)
Copyright: 2013 The Manitoulin Expositor.
Contact:  http://www.manitoulin.ca/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2429
Author: Robin Burridge

HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION WARNS NORTHEAST TOWN AGAINST 'PEOPLE ZONING' PRACTICE

LITTLE CURRENT-The Ontario Human Rights Commission (OHRC) sent a 
letter to the Northeast Town last week in response to a claim filed 
by a client of the 19A Water Street (methadone) Clinic sparked by the 
upcoming closure of the Little Current clinic this Friday, February 15.

Last month, the clinic building owners, Robinson's Pharmacy Group, 
were contacted by the Northeast Town, informing them that they must 
stop dispensing methadone within 30 days at that location (19A Water 
Street) or the company would be charged with nuisance under the 
municipality's bylaw act, leading the company to evict Dr. Bryan 
Dressler and his methadone clinic.

The town's actions were prompted by a series of incidents allegedly 
involving clients of the Water Street clinic, which reached a head 
when a fight broke out between several clients on the town's main 
street in December.

Last month, the Northeast Town council also proposed amendments to 
the current commercial and residential zoning bylaw to change the 
definition of a business or professional office to "an office in 
which any business is carried on or any profession is practiced but 
does not include a home occupation or a clinic" and limiting the 
placement of a clinic to "the same property as a hospital or home for 
the aged."

The motion for the proposed amendments was accepted, with the next 
steps in the planning process a public notification and meeting 
regarding the proposed zoning changes.

A major component of the letter to the Northeast Town from the OHRC 
is warning the town against 'people zoning.'

"Any amendment the town considers making to its zoning bylaws must 
not 'people zone'," states the OHRC. "Zoning decisions must not 
violate the Code (Ontario Human Rights Code) and bylaws should 
neither target, nor have a discriminatory impact on people with 
addictions. There needs to be a genuine planning purpose for all 
decisions, and the town should work to ensure that the needs of 
people with addictions are accommodated in any planning changes it makes."

The OHRC also writes that it "questions whether the town has 
established a causal link between providing methadone services and 
the events described (the disturbances that led to the clinic 
breaching the public nuisance bylaw 2002-31)."

"Even if a casual link is found, the town would have to show that it 
tried to accommodate the clinic's users to the point of undue 
hardship, as receipt of health service is a service under the Ontario 
Human Rights Code," continues the letter.

The OHRC warns the town against discriminating against the "highly 
stigmatized methadone client group," citing section one of the Code, 
"prohibiting discrimination in services against people with 
disabilities, including addictions."

The OHRC states that the proposed actions of directing the clinic to 
cease dispensing methadone at the Little Current clinic location due 
to the bylaw breach and the proposed amendments to the town's 
commercial and residential zoning bylaw to limit the locations of 
medical clinics, "raise significant human rights issues with us and 
we urge you to reconsider." (The letter can be read in its entirety 
on our website, www.manitoulin.ca).

Referenced in the letter is a Kitchener case where the Ontario 
Municipal Board (OMB) examined the issues of 'people zoning.'

"...when asked why counseling services were also being banned from (a 
particular) area, the city's planner replied that the community did 
not want social service users walking through the neighborhood to 
counseling: 'That would add to the negative social environment.' That 
left little doubt that the focus was not on the uses, but the users."

The Expositor contacted Northeast Town Mayor Al MacNevin regarding 
the town's actions, proposed bylaw amendments and the OHRC letter, 
however the mayor stated that he was not able to comment on any of 
the issues at this time, as the letter is currently being reviewed by 
the town's solicitor.

The Expositor looked into various other municipality's methadone 
clinic planning and discovered a study done by the city of London, 
which took a similar approach to clinic planning as the Northeast 
Town is seeking to do.

The London study begins by identifying the issue of planning for 
methadone clinics and dispensaries and how it has been the subject of 
"considerable public debate."

Cited on the first page of the report is a recommendation in response 
to a coroner's inquest into the methadone related deaths of four 
people is Oshawa by the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care (MHLTC) 
Methadone Maintenance Treatment (MMT) Task Force in 2006.

"It is clear that the integration of Methadone Maintenance Treatment 
programs into communities is generally not well done," states the 
task force recommendation. "Clinics and physicians who provide MMT 
need to engage with and contribute to the community in which they are 
located. Most physicians who provide MMT are independent business 
people who are free to establish their clinics where they want, 
subject to local bylaws. This is also true of pharmacists. However, 
organizations funded by the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care or 
Local Health Integration Networks should be required to engage the 
community when planning to provide MMT services."

The report goes on to state that "no known policies or regulations 
have been implemented at the provincial level that would assist local 
municipalities in planning for the location of MMT services."

The municipality explained that the purpose of the report was to 
establish policies and regulations to "direct these uses to the best 
locations for clients" and to mitigate the potential impacts of these uses.

The city approved an interim control bylaw to prohibit new methadone 
clinics and dispensaries within London for a one-year period during 
which the study would take place, which led to an appeal and OMB hearing.

The OMB in its decision ruled that the city's "comprehensive approach 
to the issue of methadone clinics is valid," that "methadone clinics 
and dispensaries have the potential to generate land use impacts, and 
concluded that there was no evidence to suggest that the city had 
failed to comply with the planning act."

London states in its study's findings that the importance of planning 
for a methadone maintenance facility is crucial, "as small waiting 
rooms, inadequate parking and high-profile locations can create 
problems of outside lining up for program participants and does not 
treat patients with respect or provide them with personal dignity 
when coming to the clinic."

This last issue stated in the study's finding directly echoes at 
least one of the many Little Current downtown business owners letters 
to the town about the location of the clinic, which states that the 
Water Street (methadone) clinic is an inappropriate location as it is 
very public for the clients and does allow them any anonymity.

As the Northeast Town moves forward, it will be attempting to create 
community-minded zoning for any future methadone clinics, while 
trying to walk a fine line as to not 'people zone' or violate the 
Ontario Human Rights Code.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom