The Centre for Research in Reasoning, Argumentation & Rhetoric along with the PhD in Argumentation Studies at the University of Windsor invite you to a talk by
Dr. Ann De Shalit, Post-doctoral Fellow, School of Social Work
Safe Supply and the Rhetoric of Unsafety: Political Discourse, Media Framing, and Program Delivery in Ontario
ABSTRACT: This presentation offers preliminary ideas about the intensifying rhetoric that frames safe supply programs as drivers of public unsafety, crime, risk, and social decline in Canada, specifically analyzing its effects on harm reduction service delivery in Ontario. Between 2016-2022, Canada recorded 36,442 opioid toxicity deaths, prompting calls for safe supply programs as a vital harm reduction strategy. While research demonstrates that safe supply programs improve health outcomes and reduce criminalized activities among people who use drugs (PWUD), opposing political and media rhetoric characterizes these programs as threats to public safety, claiming they increase crime, put youth at risk, and create social disorder.
The presentation draws on early stages of a study that employs situational analysis to map the interconnected elements of political and media rhetoric framing safe supply programs as generally unsafe. Through qualitative interviews with key informants in harm reduction program delivery, advocacy, and research, the study also seeks to investigate how this rhetoric impacts program implementation and safety considerations. This research represents the first systematic examination of political and media rhetoric on safe supply programs and its operational impacts, and is particularly timely as harm reduction workers, many of whom are PWUD themselves, face increasing safety concerns.
January 31
3:00 p.m.
Chrysler Hall North, 1163
All Welcome