McDonald joins forces with area mayors & leaders to develop a drug strategy

Kids and drugs was a common concern North Bay Mayor Al McDonald heard throughout his 2010 campaign and therefore resolved to that creating a Drug Strategy would be a pillar of his platform.

On Friday McDonald introduced the first part of his commitment by introducing the North Bay and Area Drug Strategy Committee.

McDonald says when speaking to his partner Wendy about the issue he became aware that drug dependency does not discriminate it crosses every section of society preying on the vulnerable and leaving ruined lives in its wake.

“She told me that every day there were individuals in court and that drugs ruined their lives. Young kids, older kids, parents, grandparents, business people, respected community leaders were caught up in using drugs and how it destroyed their lives, destroyed their families and their businesses. ”

“I have three grandkids and I know someday they too will be forced to make a choice,” he states.

“The fastest way to destroy the fabric of society is to remove all hope from individuals. That is the potential of what drugs can do. I decided right there and then to make it part of my platform and to bring attention to the matter so it would not be swept under the rug any longer. We hear about the crime in the large cities, individuals craving to feed their dependency and their addiction. It is not just illegal drugs but prescription drugs as well.”

“North Bay and area needs a drug strategy.”



And with that McDonald enlisted City Councillor Judy Koziol to assist him in pulling together community leaders in the region and get down to working on developing first steps and facing the issue head on.

Second step was to solicit the support of Pat Cliche who agreed to chair the North Bay Strategy Drug Committee, and then they gathered support from Callander Mayor Hec Lavigne, Mattawa Mayor Dean Backer and West Nipissing Mayor Savage.

Cliche told reporters that the committee has four key objective areas of focus: prevention, treatment, enforcement and harm reduction and not duplicating efforts of organizations in the community.

Cliche says the North Bay Police Service, Ontario Provincial Police, AIDS Committee of North Bay, Canadore College, North Bay Regional Health Centre, Indian Friendship Centre and many other organizations have all stepped forward to work with the committee to develop a coordinated approach towards the reduction of substance misuse related injuries, chronic disease, illness and death.

But the most important part of the most important partner in the strategy is the community, so the committee wants to hear from you.

“Bringing all key stakeholders and key decisions makers to the table the long term vision will be a safer and healthier region that will optimize the lives, abilities and health of individuals and families,” states McDonald.

The committee has scheduled four public information sessions:

Tuesday January 30th, 7:00pm
Royal Canadian Legion Branch 23 North Bay

Thursday, January 31st, 7:00pm
Callander Council Chambers

Monday February 4th, 7:00pm
Mattawa Town Hall

Thursday, February 7th, 7:00pm
West Nipissing Public Library.

“Education and awareness along with prevention are key areas that need to be addressed. In our whole area, we have great programs and great people administering these programs, but just think what more could be accomplished with a common strategy that identifies local champions and lead role responsibilities aligned to key objective areas,” states McDonald.

“Success will be dependent upon the opportunity for dialogue amongst all agencies and that they all have the opportunity to provide input into the end result product.”

“We did not get to where we are overnight and we are not going to solve this problem today. With this committee becoming a reality, we are on the right track in terms of setting a direction, having a coordinating body in place and providing the opportunity for those directly affected as well as those who provide the services and deliver the programs to have input into solutions.”