THUNDER BAY — Anna Betty Achneepineskum came to Wednesday’s International Overdose Awareness Day commemoration carrying a framed photo of Dave Beardy.
The Nishnawbe Aski Nation deputy grand chief explained that an overdose claimed the life of her son-in-law Beardy, from Muskrat Lake Dam First Nation, six years ago.
“My daughter is here, and his daughter is here,” Achneepineskum said near Shelter House on George Street, where NAN had concluded its International Overdose Awareness Walk.
“And I know there’s other family members here who have lost loved ones as well,” she said.
“So this is an epidemic all across this country. And we need to do more.”
International Overdose Awareness Day is Aug. 31, but NAN held its walk on Wednesday, alongside the City of Thunder Bay and Thunder Bay District Health Unit, Shelter House and other community partners that held an awareness event.
The health unit’s Kandace Belanger said in a media release that “International Overdose Awareness Day is a solemn reminder that overdose is preventable and every life is worth saving.”
Achneepineskum told Newswatch there needs to be “serious action to create more detox centres and more aftercare programming” but she isn’t seeing that happen.
Instead, she said, governments “still continue to ignore that there’s an issue here. There’s a problem, there’s a pandemic, there’s an epidemic.”
She said the closing of Path 525, a safe consumption site on the city’s south side, was a step backward.
“And I really don’t understand the justification of that,” she added. “Because I have heard testimonies from individuals that have supported the importance of a site such as that and how it saved them.
“And, you know, there has to be that input from individuals with that lived experience before the provincial government or any city official makes those decisions.
“So it’s really hard for me to support, when they make those decisions without that type of inclusion.”
Lise Vaugeois, the New Democrat MPP for Thunder Bay–Superior North, criticized the province’s Progressive Conservative government for legislation that “criminalizes people for being homeless and addicted.”
She was referring to the Safer Municipalities Act, which allows police to remove, arrest, fine and jail people who are caught living in encampments. The act passed in Ontario’s legislative assembly and received royal assent to become law in June.
The Canadian Civil Liberties Association said in June that the legislation criminalizes the unhoused when “the government should take an evidence-based approach in addressing affordable housing and the addiction/overdose epidemic.”
Thunder Bay–Atikokan MPP Kevin Holland, an associate minister in the provincial government, said “we’ve seen some successes, but there’s a lot more that needs to be done.”
Among the successes is the work done by the local Youth Wellness Hub, Holland said.
As well, he said, “we also saw development of the mental health and addictions treatment area within the emergency department at Thunder Bay Regional.”
