Mr. Speaker, the GNWT has been paying increasing attention to the opioid crisis due to the recent upsurge in death by overdose, or as the department sanitizes it, "drug poisoning" or "opioid contamination." As already mentioned in this Chamber by my colleagues, in 2022 six opioidrelated deaths were tracked in the community of Hay River.
Regular MLAs have repeatedly raised concern over the escalating drug crisis in the NWT. Crack cocaine is rampant in all of our communities, and the number of people who have lost their lives due to opioids is soaring, particularly in the community of Hay River which is known as an entry point for illicit drugs.
On January 24th, the chief public health officer; the CEO for the Hay River Health and Social Services Authority; the director of Child, Family, and Community Wellness; and the NWT's chief coroner held a news conference to address the alarming "drug poisoning" deaths in Hay River in 2022. According to the Government of Canada, there have been 16 total opioidrelated deaths in the NWT from 2016 and partway into 2022, And more than half of all accidental deaths included alcohol and/or drugs.
More men than women lose their lives due to drug toxicity. Nationally, data shows that men and Indigenous people are being disproportionately harmed by opioids. The fiveyear trend for accidental deaths with the detection of alcohol and/or drugs increases each year. 2020 was an exception, where accidental deaths that detected alcohol and/or drugs declined however that is likely due to isolation rules enforced around the pandemic.
Except for in 2018, more men than women accidentally lose their lives due to toxicity in the NWT. Those who do not identify by gender are not tracked. In other words, there is no data being collected on how drugs and opioids are impacting this marginalized community. Nationally, opioidrelated deaths and hospitalizations are highest in the western provinces, the NWT, and the Yukon. Yet despite this, we have no treatment centre, no culturallyappropriate place to send the people who are suffering. Instead, we have a department that acts like a gatekeeper, often denying the most appropriate treatment for residents based on financial drivers with zero clinical basis for the decision. No wonder this issue is getting worse here in the territory, given a government that is more worried about the bottom line than its people. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Great Slave. Members' statements. Member for Tu NedheWiilideh.
