Preliminary numbers show Manitoba drug deaths at record level in 2022

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This article was published 26/04/2023 (909 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Drug deaths in Manitoba appear to have hit a record high in 2022, new data shows.

According to preliminary statistics from Manitoba’s Office of the Chief Medical Examiner provided to the Free Press by an advocacy group, there were 418 total drug-related overdose deaths in 2022, up from 407 at about the same time last year for 2021 (the number later grew to 424 after more deaths were confirmed). There were 371 drug deaths in 2020, up from 199 in 2019.

Advocates for people who use substances say they’re sadly not surprised by the numbers, given the toxic drug supply in Manitoba and across Canada. They hope that the public doesn’t lose sight of the fact that behind each number is a person who died and a community left grieving.

“It brings a lot of trauma back to our families, even myself,” said Arlene Last-Kolb of Moms Stop the Harm, a group of parents who’ve lost children to drug poisonings who provided the 2022 data. Last-Kolb’s son, Jessie, died in 2014 at age 24 from a fentanyl overdose.

Last-Kolb said the growing death toll shows the need for more harm-reduction services and better access to treatment in Manitoba. She would specifically like to see the province move towards a safe supply model where people can access drugs that have been tested to ensure they don’t contain toxic substances.

Six people in The Pas overdosed last weekend after taking a party drug — possibly ecstasy — that RCMP say was laced with an opioid. One of them, Harlan Fourre, 31, was put on life support. His father, Joseph Fourre, an addictions worker, has called for governments to crack down harder on drug dealers.

“Our children are dying, our children are getting hurt by greed, from fentanyl sellers who are mixing this drug with other drugs and selling it out there,” Joseph Fourre told the Free Press.

Despite the 2022 number being the highest annual preliminary drug death number Manitoba has seen, it could be much worse, said Levi Foy, executive director of Sunshine House, a drop-in and resource centre in Winnipeg.

“It shows how good community members are at taking care of themselves,” Foy said. “These numbers could be a lot higher.”

Still, Foy said the data shows a need for better supports for people who use drugs.

Manitoba’s Progressive Conservative government has been mostly opposed to supervised consumption sites, places where people can consume drugs under supervision and be revived if they overdose. While Sunshine House operates a mobile overdose prevention site — an RV in which people can use substances and get help if needed — Foy and other harm-reduction advocates worry even that is under threat.

The Stefanson government recently introduced an bill that would regulate addictions services and, while the Tories say it could open the door to supervised consumption sites, critics say it’s rules-heavy and leaves no room for peer-run services to operate. The province recently came under fire for refusing to provide timely preliminary data on drug overdose deaths, only sharing data from 2021, though it later agreed to post the 2022 data.

— With files from Malak Abas.

katrina.clarke@freepress.mb.ca

Katrina Clarke
Investigative reporter

Katrina Clarke is an investigative reporter at the Winnipeg Free Press. Katrina holds a bachelor’s degree in politics from Queen’s University and a master’s degree in journalism from Western University. She has worked at newspapers across Canada, including the National Post and the Toronto Star. She joined the Free Press in 2022. Read more about Katrina.

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