Niagara fentanyl deaths climb

Niagara’s death toll has continued to climb in the weeks since the provincial government put the brakes on plans to establish overdose prevention sites across Ontario, including one in St. Catharines.

Positive Living Niagara executive director Glen Walker estimated that as many as 13 people in Niagara have lost their lives to suspected fentanyl overdoses in the weeks since Aug. 10, when Ontario Health Minister Christine Elliott announced the opening of overdose prevention sites would be put on hold pending a review of their merits.

Walker said Positive Living staff knew several of the opioid users who lost their lives recently.

“Generally, these are people who had been reported to us that we had known, that have passed away,” he said.

Meanwhile, St. Catharines MPP Jennie Stevens said more than 150 people across the province have died from fentanyl overdoses since Premier Doug Ford’s government paused the opening of the sites.

And although Walker had expected an announcement from the province on Friday that would have permitted overdose prevention sites to finally open, the government instead announced further delays.

Community Services Minister Lisa MacLeod said the province needs another month to complete its review.

Said Walker, “We certainly are disappointed.”

He described the site planned for Positive Living’s facility on Queenston Street — it was scheduled to open in mid-September — as a vital tool in providing a rapid response to local overdose prevention needs.

“Unfortunately, while Positive Living Niagara waits many people are still at risk of overdose,” he said.

Stevens raised the matter during question period in Queen’s Park, Monday, saying ongoing delays are “putting the health of Ontarians in jeopardy.”

Finance Minister Victor Fedeli responded to her, saying the government is “committed to get people struggling with addiction the help that they need.”

Stevens told him that “Niagara saw a 335 per cent increase in opioid overdoses from 2016 to 2017.”

“There were 76 overdose deaths in Niagara last year — up from 40 deaths the year before,” she said. “While these deaths are tragic, they are also preventable. If just one of these lives could have been saved by administering naloxone or testing for fentanyl, the overdose prevention site would have been worth it.

Walker said the number of overdoses in Niagara have continued to increase so far this year.

“I don’t think it’s going to be as dramatic, but it certainly has jumped,” he said.

More than 100 naloxone kits were used to treat people suffering from drug overdoses in the past month alone.

“It’s a record for us. Usually, we’re running 50 or 60, which is way up there for us,” he said. “We have seen this ongoing increase in the use of naloxone kits, so I don’t think we’re seeing this crisis abating at the moment.”