Official says new approach tried to stem opioid deaths

The region served by Interior Health has been “hit hard” by the opioid epidemic, says the agency’s medical health officer, but new tactics are being brought to bear in the fight.

“We’ve come a long way, but unfortunately these deaths continue to occur,” Dr. Silvina Mema on Thursday told the board of the Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen.

Fentanyl is the sole reason for the Interior Health region facing the second highest number of overdose deaths in B.C., behind only the Vancouver area, she said. According to the BC Coroner’s Service, almost 90 per cent of overdose victims had fentanyl in their system.

Data gleaned from coroners’ reports, paramedic calls and emergency room visits and presented to the RDOS doesn’t paint a pretty picture, with a spike in overdose related numbers coinciding with the increase in fentanyl in the region two to three years ago.

“Efforts continue, and we have now begun to rethink how we deliver services, and there has been a restructure provincially,” Mema added, with 3,800 naloxone kit distributed last year in the region and 12,000 client visits at mobile supervised consumption sites.

Mema said the two largest barriers the health authority faces in the battle are societal stigma against drug users, and capacity for facilities and resources.

But Donaldson says Bonney was not dishonest or corrupt and worked at the direction of others, including those in then-premier Christy Clark’s office, when he supervised community liaison workers who were building contacts with ethnic groups and individuals.

Bonney was charged with breach of trust in May 2016 following an RCMP investigation and pleaded guilty last October.

Donaldson is asking for a suspended sentence while the Crown wants a 12- to 23-month conditional sentence to be served in the community.

Special prosecutor David Butcher is expected to conclude submissions today before a sentence is imposed on Jan. 31.