Mayors across Canada urge federal government to lead on overdose deaths crisis
VANCOUVER — Mayors across Canada are calling for federal leadership on the “national emergency” of overdoses by ensuring provinces provide timely access to addiction treatment and by launching public education campaigns.
Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson, who heads a task force of the big city mayors caucus on the opioid crisis, said he and his counterparts in 12 other cities agree the situation is so dire that Ottawa must take a leadership role if jurisdictions are not moving fast enough to save lives.
Federal Health Minister Jane Philpott said last month she’s frustrated with provinces and territories that have not provided her with information on overdose deaths despite repeated requests.
“We are in a national public health crisis in Canada,” Philpott’s press secretary, Andrew MacKendrick, said in a statement Thursday on behalf of the minister, who was unavailable. “Minister Philpott is committed to using every lever at her disposal to combat this crisis, and to working with all levels of government and partners across the country to do so.”