The Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) and Simcoe County District School Board (SCDSB) have responded to controversial pamphlets that were distributed to Barrie North Collegiate Institute (BNCI) students this week. Parents have been voicing their shock all over social media when they found out that the CMHA gave students ‘safer snorting’ pamphlets on Tuesday during lunch hour. CMHA Response “CMHA Ontario does not seek to promote or normalize substance use among youth. We regret that unvetted materials were distributed in this context,” said Camille Quenneville, CMHA Ontario CEO, in her statement to CTV News. “We are working closely with our local branch to review and strengthen our content approval processes to ensure all materials are appropriate for their intended audiences and aligned with best practices and community expectations. Harm reduction education is designed to provide accurate, evidence-based information that helps reduce the risk of injury, illness, and death. We remain committed to delivering this information in a discrete, thoughtful and age-appropriate manner.” School Principal Response A parent who made one of the original complaints received a message from Kim Hand, BNCI Principal. “We have taken this matter seriously and have reviewed these concerns with our community partner,” said Hand in part of the letter. “This will ensure that in the future, resources that are made available to students align appropriately with harm reduction education as outlined in the Ontario curriculum expectations.” Province Response Michael Kerzner, Ontario Solicitor General was in Barrie Thursday morning for a funding announcement in front of Barrie police headquarters Thursday morning. CTV News asked Kerzner about the ‘safer snorting’ issue, but he deferred it to the Ministry of Education. “I can’t speak to the specific issue,” said Kerzner. “That’s something you’re going to have direct to the Minister of Education.” CTV News reached out to the office of Paul Calandra, Ontario Education Minister, for comment and awaits a response. Student Reaction “Already there’s so much problems at our school with drug use and that’s not making it any better,” said Olivia Johnston, a student at BNCI. She adds “that literally is just making it okay for them. People are thinking that’s okay and that’s not at all.” Parents Reaction “This is very much overstepping parents,” said Brett Buccos, who has a stepchild a nephew and multiple nieces enrolled at BNCI, adding he finds the content provided to students “extremely inappropriate for children.” “What I found a lot of feedback is, well, everybody’s doing it so why don’t we just teach them to be safe about it?” Buccos says. “To me that’s a very inappropriate way in how you teach your children,” he adds.
