1996 Bishop’s Inquiry into Drug Use.
Anglican Bishop Terence Finlay commissioned an inquiry into the street level drug scene at the corner of Dundas and Sherbourne where the Anglican community ministry All Saints’ Church-Community Centre is located. The inquiry panel included local neighbour, a public health expert, a street nurse among others. The one strategy that most united the diverse group was that of harm reduction and one of their recommendations was the creation of a network of harm reduction agencies in the east end of Toronto.

1997-1999 Steering Committee
The east end harm reduction network quickly expanded to include the whole city as many individuals and agencies were interested once they heard about the effort. The group met monthly and was headed by a constant Steering Committee that included Walter Cavalieri, Alice Gorman, Gail Yardy, Stephen Meredith, Val Cartledge, Birgitta Pavic, Ewen McCuaig, David Collins, and Raffi Balian among others. Working closely with active drug users as well as the communities in which they lived was a part of the vision from the very beginning.

1999 Incorporation and first Board of Directors.
In June of 1999, with a lot of work especially by Ewan McCuaig, the Task Force was Incorporated and the first Board of Directors elected. This made it possible to start applying for public and private funding.

1999 Alan Ho Inquest.
The Task Force, along with the Toronto Raver Info Project, attained standing at the Alan Ho Inquest Into Ecstasy Related Deaths. The majority of our recommendations were adopted by the jury. This, along with a large demonstration/dance by the Party People Project, helped stop the scapegoating of the raver community by the Mayor and Toronto Police Service.

2001 Alternative Health Fair.
The Task Force held our first Health Fair with over 20 community agencies, a panel of speakers from across the country, community theatre presentations and hundreds of people attending. Held in Holy Trinity Church, it was an opportunity for many harm reduction workers to meet and network for the first time.

2001 Project funding from SCPI.
The Task Force received our first funding from the Federal Supporting Community Partnerships Initiative. Toronto Public Health funding followed soon after. We formed a valued relationship with St. Michael’s Hospital as our trustee.

2001 First Coordinator hired.
The Task Force moved into high gear once we were able to hire our first Coordinator, Lea Ann Mallett.

2001 Speaker Series launched.
The Speaker Series is easily the most visible part of the work of the Task Force. Since 2001, we have presented nearly 100 different speakers, usually 5 to 6 sessions are offered each year. Approximately 6,000 people have attended all totaled. (We have also carried out 75 Frontline Workers Meeting with nearly 2,000 workers total in attendance and 80 in-service workshops for agencies when requested with Board members or staff groups.)

2001 Newsletter launched.
Also in the same year, the Toronto Harm Reduction Newsletter was launched with both electronic and printed versions.

2002 Safer Crack Kits.
The Task Force organized a visit by Mark Kinzly from Connecticut who gave a public presentation and met with Toronto Public Health representatives to discuss the distribution of safer crack kits and harm reduction work with crack users. This helped catalyze new outreach to crack users and the hard work of the Safer Crack Use Coalition, who effectively advocated for the City to distribute safer crack kits, as they do with clean needles.

July 2002 Current Coordinator hired.
Holly Kramer, our current Project Coordinator was hired. Holly brought to the Task Force an great ability to network and a strong knowledge of homelessness from her years of work at Street Outreach Services.

July 2003 Peer Manual produced.
Peer workers were commissioned to write articles and Barb Panter (Queen West Community Health Centre) completed the final edit. This represented the first of many successful peer projects over the years. The Peer Manual explores many of the issues involved in hiring and supporting peer workers in the efforts of harm reduction. The Manual has been distributed literally across the globe and is available for download on the THRTF RESOURCES page of this web site.

2004-2005 Toronto Drug Strategy.
The Task Force held several positions on committees aiding in the creation of the Toronto Drug Strategy an inclusive ‘four-pillar’ approach to the issue of drugs adopted by City Council.

2005 Detox Bed Closures.
The Ontario Ministry of Health and several downtown hospitals planned for the closure of more than 24 detox beds in the downtown core. The Task Force supported the fight back that saw the organizing of a coalition and the minor victory of keeping one half of the beds open.

2005 York University Harm Reduction Course.
The Task Force joined forces with York University to create a non-credit course in harm reduction. We designed most of the content and readings. Barb Panter and Dale Kuehl (Board Member) continue to teach the course.

2006 XVI International AIDS Conference.
The Task Force spearheaded the creation and staffing of the Harm Reduction Networking Zone in the Global Village. We organized five days of programming and drug user support, including the signing of an International Harm Reduction Agreement by representatives from every continent.

2006 Toronto Drug Strategy Implementation Committee.
The Task Force is invited to sit on the Implementation Panel for the ongoing work of implementing the Toronto Dug Strategy.

2007 Overdose Prevention.
In 2006-7, in cooperation with TPH - TheWorks, the Task force trained 4 peer educators on the "train the trainer" model to help design and deliver overdose prevention workshops to users. 100 users from across the city were trianed.

SEQWAY

As our fourth peer project, the Task Force organized several user focus groups to discuss street level experiences of overdose. These focus groups were recorded and edited together into a training DVD. Three Overdose Prevention pamphlets were also produced, focusing on Suppressants, Stimulants and Party Drugs. The DVD content can be viewed on our VIDEO page and the pamphlets can be downloaded from our THRTF RESOURCES page.

2007 Health Fair.
Our fourth health fair was held in the City Hall Rotunda. It attracted nearly 30 community groups and Minister of Health, George Smitherman. (There have now been seven health fairs in total.)

2008 Walker Inquest into Excited Delirium.
The Task Force supports the inquest into a death by Police repeated tazer use on a mentally ill individual who had also been using drugs. The term ‘excited delirium’ becomes more popularly understood.

2008 National Anti-Drug Strategy.
The Task Force works along with the Toronto Drug Strategy and a coalition of other community groups to organize a public event in City Council Chambers to challenge the Conservatives’ National Anti-Drug Strategy, that refuses to recognize harm reduction. Over 200 supporters attend along with some media.

2008 Crack kits Peer Project.
For our next peer project, we partnered with a number of community agencies across the city, educating participants about safer crack use and paying peers to assemble and distribute safer crack kits. The kits, newly being distributed by the City, had been so instantly popular that they were finding it impossible to keep up with the demand on their own.

2008 York University harm reduction course goes online.
The York University course expands to include an option for students to study online as well as in person. The number of students involve quickly multiplies.

2009 Maintaining Housing Peer Project.
Our latest completed peer project organized focus groups of drug users across the city to discuss their difficulties with maintaining their housing. Againa DVD was produced and is available to view online here on our VIDEOS page. A handbook for drug users and housing workers is also available for download on our THRTF RESOUCES page.