Follow-up to this weekend’s coverage of Windsor police now charging people for using illegal drugs in public even while prosecution remains uncertain.
Windsor officers are no longer driving past people openly using illegal drugs on the street. They are stopping, arresting, and laying charges.
When asked how local prosecutors would respond to more simple-possession charges, Windsor’s police chief said that remains to be seen. Police services will track the numbers and report on how many charges are laid and how many make it through the courts.
On a positive note, Windsor Police’s Nurse Police Team (NPT) which has an officer and a hospital nurse working together on the street reports success with offering help to vulnerable people.
Plank 6 of my Oshawa re-election campaign platform is Reclaim Our Public Spaces. Sidewalks, parks, trails must be clean, safe, and usable. That is the city’s most basic job.
Open-air illegal drug use needs enforcement and treatment. It should not be shrugged off with calls for compassion when real compassion is not passive but requires action.
Oshawa residents keep writing to Council about this. Hyperlinked here is the latest email I received Friday, September 18, 2026.
Illegal drug dealing and open use will keep damaging our public spaces, neighbours, and businesses until we have the law enforced and take our streets back.
A year ago, in Sept. 2025, Council approved my motion CNCL-25-63. It formally asked the federal Minister of Justice, the Ontario Attorney General, and Durham Regional Police to act against open, flagrant use of illegal drugs in public spaces because it:
Passing a motion does not end the job. Follow-through can. It's why I am writing here that the new Oshawa leadership elected for the 2026–2030 term must reclaim public spaces so families feel welcome downtown again at the McLaughlin Library, the RMG Art Gallery, Parkwood Estate, restaurants, music at the Biltmore and 44 Bond, Memorial Park Bandshell, and the Regent Theatre.
The City has a real opening now with Ontario’s Safer Municipalities Act, 2025, and the province investing over $500 million in 29 HART Hubs across Ontario in 2026. The two HART Hubs both in Oshawa and in Whitby bring more hope. Oshawa’s HART Hub is expected to open a new permanent facility on Bloor St. E. and will soon offer 45 overnight rooms and wrap-around services. Durham Regional Police’s Project Atlantis, also launched in 2025 and expanded in 2026, posted promising arrest stats in last month.
The question is whether Oshawa and DRPS will take the same kind of step Windsor police are taking.
The picture below is of a section of Metcalfe St. opposite Memorial Park a commenter posted on a post of mine on Our Oshawa August 11, 2026 with the words "it's drug city here today."
Windsor officers are no longer driving past people openly using illegal drugs on the street. They are stopping, arresting, and laying charges.
When asked how local prosecutors would respond to more simple-possession charges, Windsor’s police chief said that remains to be seen. Police services will track the numbers and report on how many charges are laid and how many make it through the courts.
On a positive note, Windsor Police’s Nurse Police Team (NPT) which has an officer and a hospital nurse working together on the street reports success with offering help to vulnerable people.
Plank 6 of my Oshawa re-election campaign platform is Reclaim Our Public Spaces. Sidewalks, parks, trails must be clean, safe, and usable. That is the city’s most basic job.
Open-air illegal drug use needs enforcement and treatment. It should not be shrugged off with calls for compassion when real compassion is not passive but requires action.
Oshawa residents keep writing to Council about this. Hyperlinked here is the latest email I received Friday, September 18, 2026.
Illegal drug dealing and open use will keep damaging our public spaces, neighbours, and businesses until we have the law enforced and take our streets back.
A year ago, in Sept. 2025, Council approved my motion CNCL-25-63. It formally asked the federal Minister of Justice, the Ontario Attorney General, and Durham Regional Police to act against open, flagrant use of illegal drugs in public spaces because it:
- endangers children who see it
- undermines people trying to recover from addiction
- draws dealers and increases crime where drugs are bought
- is still not being actively prosecuted despite how serious it is
Passing a motion does not end the job. Follow-through can. It's why I am writing here that the new Oshawa leadership elected for the 2026–2030 term must reclaim public spaces so families feel welcome downtown again at the McLaughlin Library, the RMG Art Gallery, Parkwood Estate, restaurants, music at the Biltmore and 44 Bond, Memorial Park Bandshell, and the Regent Theatre.
The City has a real opening now with Ontario’s Safer Municipalities Act, 2025, and the province investing over $500 million in 29 HART Hubs across Ontario in 2026. The two HART Hubs both in Oshawa and in Whitby bring more hope. Oshawa’s HART Hub is expected to open a new permanent facility on Bloor St. E. and will soon offer 45 overnight rooms and wrap-around services. Durham Regional Police’s Project Atlantis, also launched in 2025 and expanded in 2026, posted promising arrest stats in last month.
The question is whether Oshawa and DRPS will take the same kind of step Windsor police are taking.
The picture below is of a section of Metcalfe St. opposite Memorial Park a commenter posted on a post of mine on Our Oshawa August 11, 2026 with the words "it's drug city here today."
