‘Let’s put fentanyl in the forefront’: Raising awareness about tainted drug-related deaths in Manitoba

A Manitoba man is pushing the province to establish September 13 as fentanyl awareness day to bring more awareness to deaths related to tainted drug supplies.

On Friday, the Singing Red Bear Foundation is hosting community walks in Winnipeg and The Pas to mark what founder Joseph Fourre calls Manitoba’s 1st Annual Fentanyl Awareness Day.

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According to Fourre, there were 171 drug overdose deaths in Manitoba between January and April this year. He said 100 of those were fentanyl-related.

“What the walk signifies is to start having those difficult conversations,” Fourre told CTV Morning Live Thursday. “Let’s start talking about this – let’s put fentanyl in the forefront.”

Joseph Fourre launched the Singing Red Bear Foundation and its No Thanks I’m Good campaign following his son Harlan’s death in April 2023. Harlan overdosed in The Pas after taking ecstasy with a group of friends. According to police, the ecstasy had been laced with an opioid.

“My son died from fentanyl poisoning from ingesting a drug that he thought was a recreational drug,” Fourre said. “He wasn’t an addict. He just made a bad choice that night with some people for reasons I will never, ever know or understand.”

Fourre said the Singing Red Bear Foundation highlights the dangers of fentanyl poisoning and recreational drug use in schools and communities around the province.

“Right now, we seem to be reacting to the issue and not trying to do some prevention,” Fourre said. “We want to be the organization that equips youth and young people about the dangers, so they can make that decision to say, ‘no thanks, I’m good.’”

Fourre said the goal of Friday’s walks isn’t just amplifying the risks of fentanyl. It’s also an effort to eliminate the shame associated with tainted drug-related deaths. He is asking people impacted by fentanyl poisoning to bring photos of loved ones lost to Friday’s walks.

“Put faces to these numbers to have an impact, so we can start having those discussions that fentanyl is killing.”

Both walks begin at noon on Friday.

Winnipeg’s walk will start in the Oodena Circle at The Forks and finish at the Manitoba Legislature.

In The Pas, the walk will journey from the Gordon Lathlin Memorial Arena to The Pas Planter.