In an unexpected move, an Ontario judge has asked lawyers to return to court today in the challenge to a new provincial law that bans supervised consumption sites within 200 metres of schools or daycares.
The Neighbourhood Group, which runs a consumption site in downtown Toronto, took the province to court to argue the law violates the Constitution and the Charter of Rights and Freedoms because the sites save lives.
The organization says Justice John Callaghan asked lawyers for all parties in the case to return to court this morning, though it was not told why.
Callaghan recently heard arguments in the case and reserved judgment, saying it would likely take him several months to reach a decision about the law’s constitutionality.
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But he granted an injunction allowing 10 sites that were set to close on April 1 to remain open until 30 days after he makes a decision in the case.
The Neighbourhood Group’s site stayed open but the nine others still closed down last week as part of planned conversions to government-approved homelessness and addiction recovery hubs.
The province said in the wake of the injunction that it would withhold funding to the sites should they continue to offer supervised consumption services.
The Progressive Conservative government’s legislation, passed last year, banned supervised consumption sites it deemed too close to schools and daycares, citing the safety of neighbours, especially children.
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