Manitoba’s Health Minister Kelvin Goertzen is calling on the federal government to stop the importation of illicit opioids and restrict access to pill presses being used to manufacture these drugs.
In a phone interview from Ottawa—where Goertzen was attending a two-day national summit on opiates—Goerzten said some pill presses used to manufacture illicit opioids, such as fentanyl, are slipping into Manitoba, although it’s hard to know how many.
“British Columbia and Alberta have seen a significant uptake in fentanyl and illicit pill presses,” Goertzen said. “We can look back at methamphetamine and OxyContin and usually what starts in the west, moves pretty rapidly into the eastern part of the nation.”
On Friday, medical experts urged the Federal Minister of Health Jane Philpott to declare a national public health emergency to deal with Canada’s opioid crisis. Canada has the second-highest per capita drug rate in the world. Three people died in Winnipeg this week because of a suspected fentanyl overdose. In British Columbia, 622 overdose deaths have happened in that province since January -- more than double the number of people who died in car crashes last year.
WATCH: Parents' fear over opioid epidemic grows
“Regardless of how it’s defined, action has to happen,” said Goertzen. “Whether or not the federal government wants to declare it a national public emergency, which comes with all kinds of different powers vested in the federal government, ultimately they have to decide that from the legislation and how it governs them.”
Goertzen called the two-day summit a good first step, and an opportunity to develop a co-ordinated national response to address opioid abuse in Canada.
Goertzen reiterated Manitoba’s commitment to improve data collection to better target interventions, to expand access to Manitoba’s Provincial Naloxone Distribution Program, improve prescription drug monitoring to prevent prescription drug misuse, and provide specialized education for service providers and parents.
READ MORE: Medical experts urge Canada to declare public emergency over opioid crisis
As of Jan. 1, Goertzen said Manitoba will be implementing a broader distribution of naloxone. Goertzen believes there is a solid system in place to distribute naloxone within Winnipeg—where emergency personnel are equipped but that’s not been the case in rural Manitoba. Goertzen Manitoba will also continue to look for ways to improve access to alternative treatment therapies like Suboxone to address opioid addiction.
In a joint statement released today, Health Canada committed to issuing an update on its opioid action plan by February 2017, including a promise to better inform Canadians of opioid risks.
Federal Health Minister Jane Philpott says she is committed to taking additional steps to combat the crisis at the federal level, including reducing barriers for supervised injection sites.
Winnipeg family raises alarm after woman dies of suspected fentanyl overdose
Holding signs saying for ‘Justice for Brittany’, frustrated family members took to the steps of Manitoba’s legislative building.
Brittany Genaille, 27, died Oct. 6 of a suspected fentanyl overdose.
Cynthia Genaille believes her daughter may have used fentanyl thinking it was meth and worries about other drug users who could get themselves killed accidentally.
"Trying to get fentanyl off the streets, carfentanil. Too many people are dying from it. I lost my baby to it,” said Cynthia, who helped organize the protest.
“It’s just so horrendous,” said Beverly Burkard, executive director of Red Road Lodge, and works with people recovering from addictions.
Burkard said in her eight years at the shelter, she's never seen anything like the dangers of fentanyl and carfentanil.
"People need to recognize that someone isn't deliberately going out there trying to be an addict,” she said.
“We can focus on the addicts, but then we also can't overlook the fact that as we are growing up we are trying different things, we all as young people have gone through those periods,” said Burkard.
Provincial politicians, the Bear Clan Patrol, and a naloxone advocate were also present at the gathering.
- With files from The Canadian Press
