Manitoba relies on outdated paper files to track OD deaths By: Katrina Clarke Posted: 6:24 PM CDT Tuesday, Jun. 27, 2023

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This article was published 27/06/2023 (845 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Manitoba’s reliance on paper files to record overdose deaths deters it from sharing timely data with a federal agency that tracks the fatalities, internal documents obtained by the Free Press suggest.

The use of the outdated information system came to light through a freedom of information request that sought insight into why the province is reluctant to share up-to-date overdose data with the Public Health Agency of Canada for its quarterly reports.

“Yes, other jurisdictions use and submit incomplete death data to PHAC for reporting at the national level, and then will correct the data if changes need to be made after the fact,” said Justin Dyck, public health officer, and epidemiologist with the Public Health Agency of Canada who works in support of Manitoba Health in an email captured in the FIPPA request. “I’ve been conservative in my approach, because Manitoba uses paper files at the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner (one of the only provinces to still do so), and so if we need to pull files from the shelves multiple times, it creates a lot of extra work for both my team, as well as at the OCME.”

“I’ve been conservative in my approach, because Manitoba uses paper files at the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner (one of the only provinces to still do so), and so if we need to pull files from the shelves multiple times, it creates a lot of extra work for both my team, as well as at the OCME.”–Justin Dyck, epidemiologist with PHAC

The Dec. 16, 2022 email was sent to Vicki Toews, a director with the department of mental health and community wellness, in response to an “urgent question” from the minister’s office asking if other regions share “unaudited” data.

Earlier that week, the Free Press asked the province why it didn’t submit opioid overdose data to a PHAC report released that month. A spokesperson initially said it was due to a “lag” in reporting from the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. The medical examiner’s office, however, denied there was a lag, saying existing report timelines are standard. On Dec. 21, 2022, the provincial spokesperson clarified that Manitoba “chooses” to only submit “complete” data to PHAC.

Colin Furness, an epidemiologist and assistant professor at the University of Toronto, said he’s not surprised to learn Manitoba uses paper to track overdose fatalities, though it is “disappointing.”

Ontario was forced to modernize its public health tracking systems amid the province’s SARS emergency in 2003, Furness said.

“It really laid bare the fact that we simply couldn’t tell what was going on,” he said. “We were kind of embarrassed and forced into doing a little bit of updating and to start to create some electronic tools to manage data better in public health.”

However, the limitations of paper shouldn’t prevent Manitoba from sharing data at a national level, he said. More resources — be they people or technology — should overcome the barriers to reporting, he said.

“This problem is solvable by adding resources, plain and simple,” he said.

“The goal of being perfectly accurate and spending the least amount of money to do that ignores the fact that this data is actually needed for research… to understand what’s killing people.”–Colin Furness

Furness said it is “bizarre” to insist on sharing only “complete” data during a toxic drugs crisis.

“The goal of being perfectly accurate and spending the least amount of money to do that ignores the fact that this data is actually needed for research… to understand what’s killing people,” he said. Not sharing preliminary data “says that we’re not taking this seriously.”

The most recent Public Health Agency of Canada report, released this month, shows Manitoba was the only region to only submit partial data for 2022 — with the province sharing that there were 52 deaths from January to March of that year. The national total for all of 2022 was 7,328.

However, Manitoba’s preliminary opioid overdose data for the full year is known — the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner previously shared it with the Free Press and with harm reduction advocates. The preliminary data show there were 270 opioid deaths in 2022, about the same as 2021.

“(The province) doesn’t feel that people should see that data,” said Arlene Last-Kolb, cofounder of Overdose Awareness Manitoba. “As a parent, and someone who has been doing this a long time, it looks to me that either they are hiding the facts or they don’t care.”

Last-Kolb, whose 24-year-old son Jessie died from a fentanyl overdose in 2014, has long pushed the province to release more timely overdose data.

“As a parent, and someone who has been doing this a long time, it looks to me that either they are hiding the facts or they don’t care.”–Arlene Last-Kolb

“We feel that we inform the public so that it helps people to know where money should go where we should be aware of things that are happening,” she said.

It’s not clear who makes the decision on what data to send to the Public Health Agency of Canada. A provincial government spokesperson directed questions to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, whose point-person on this matter was unavailable Tuesday.

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.

Every piece of reporting Katrina produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.