“People will die if Doug Ford's government doesn't reverse its decision to stop funding some safe injection sites,” said Toronto's Medical Officer of Health on Monday, but [Ontario Premier Doug Ford] said he also has to listen to residents who don't want the sites in their "backyard."Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, April 1, 2019The Association of Leaders in Lifelong Learning for Ministry (ALLLM) invite you to a forum on Thursday October 31, 2019 to consider the impact of the opiate crisis on the City of Toronto, to reflect on the ethics of harm reduction, and to consider ways that people of faith might respond.
ALLLM is assembling a panel including Paulos Gebreyesus, Executive Director of the Regent Park Community Health Centre, and frontline church outreach workers who are responding in practical and pragmatic ways to a crisis which is exploding so quickly that it’s diverting resources and energy away from other longer term programming in their agencies. We’ll invite them to engage us in a discussion about:
- The extent and impact of the opiate crisis on Toronto’s population.
- The social and political debate in Ontario over whether supervised injection sites are an appropriate and necessary way to save lives, or an abdication of social responsibility.
- The ethics of harm reduction, and its connection to principles of social justice that are rooted in our religious traditions.
- The practical and ethical concerns that need to be addressed even by those who are convinced that strategies such as supervised injection sites are morally justifiable and an appropriate use of public dollars.
On Friday morning, come to a follow-up workshop to discuss how post-degree professional development and learning can support and encourage ministry leaders of faith communities to lead theologically and practically within their shifting contexts, using the Toronto Opiate Crisis as a case study for education into faith and the common good.
$15 for refreshments collected during registration or at the door.
