Full Podcast: https://lovethenorth.ca/article/261004-sudbury-ward-shawn-rossi-on Ward 8 candidate Shawn Rossi says Sudbury has a serious opioid and addiction problem — and he argues that the city cannot solve homelessness or downtown disorder without dealing with that underlying reality. Drawing on his healthcare background, Rossi says mental illness and drug addiction are two of the biggest factors driving homelessness. His point is that many people living on the street are not there because they simply chose that life — they are often trapped by addiction, mental-health issues, or both. Rossi also points to Sudbury’s historically high opioid use and argues that the scale of the problem should force the community to look much harder at treatment and recovery. His concern is that moving people, issuing tickets, or simply concentrating them in one building does not fix the root cause. He supports the idea of a **day hospital** where people could access addiction treatment, mental-health care and other services without requiring overnight hospitalization. Rossi says municipal leaders may not control provincial healthcare funding, but they can still push the province and advocate for the services Sudbury needs. **His message is that if Sudbury is one of the communities struggling heavily with opioid use, then treatment has to become part of the solution — not an afterthought.** You cannot fix homelessness by only addressing where people sleep. You have to address why so many people are struggling in the first place. #Sudbury #ShawnRossi #Ward8 #OpioidCrisis #Addiction #MentalHealth #Homelessness #Healthcare #GreaterSudbury #NorthernOntario #LoveTheNorth