About 100 people gathered in Soper Park Tuesday to honour those who have been lost to overdoses in Waterloo region, including Cambridge.
Tensions were high at the International Overdose Awareness Day events today at Soper Park as families gathered for the first time after the province announced sweeping changes to the way healthcare providers administer harm reduction and other life-saving practices.
Melina Pearson, co-chair of Waterloo Region Integrated Drugs Strategy (WRIDS), noted this year in particular is a heavy one, but what's important is that these families feel supported on this day.
"We are here to honour those who have lost their lives to the drug crisis that we are facing here in the region and also around the world," said Pearson. "There have been around 800 people that have died from drugs and these markers are here to represent a person, a loved one, because at the end of the day, these are people not just numbers."
International Overdose Awareness Day events took place in Kitchener last weekend and in Cambridge at Soper Park to allow families and friends an opportunity to mourn their lived ones in a public space.
"For some, this is the first time any of these people have actually had the opportunity to be in a public setting and mourn someone they've lost," she said.
The event comes on the heels of the province cutting funding and shutting down several safe consumption and treatment sites across the province, including locally in Kitchener.
At Soper Park there were around 200 purple markers in the ground to signify a person who died from drug poisoning in the region.
Cameron Dearlove, the chair for WRIDS, notes the closure of these harm reduction initiatives will have devastating impacts on the community, potentially adding more markers in the ground for future events.
"When news broke out, at least in our meetings it was a pretty dark day and we were just assessing what this announcement meant for us and for the people who desperately need this type of healthcare," said Dearlove.
The closure of the CTS site is like losing a tool in their tool belt, added Dearlove.
"It's important that we have the full spectrum of supports available as far as supporting people through through this opioid crisis."
Another tool Dearlove notes they will lose is the ability to test the local drug supply for harmful toxins like fentanyl.
WRIDS relies on this tool to inform those who are using and the general public that there might be a tainted drug supply.
"This program for testing drugs was coming to an end before this announcement, but we were hopeful that we would be able to extend it and continue this life-saving work," he added.
Needle exchange programs are also ending and Dearloved predicts the region will start to see a rise in the spread of bloodborne diseases such as Hepatitis C and HIV.
Families gathered around each marker, reminisced and connected with others going through the same struggles of losing someone close to them.
Jess Fry, team leader of the Sanguen mobile clinic, adds that the mood of this event is unlike any other as many know what future implications lie ahead for those they service.
"The CTS site was proven to help and save lives, I mean we reversed over 1,000 overdoses. Now that it's gone we could be adding 1,000 more markers in the ground," she said.
Sanguen also operates the CTS site in Kitchener which might be transitioned into a new Homelessness and Addiction Recovery Treatment (HART) Hub to offer healthcare to those who would normally use the CTS site.
Emma Horner, another co-chair for WRIDS, notes the introduction of the HART Hubs and new ways to treat some of the most vulnerable individuals in the community should come hand-in-hand with the CTS site, not replace it.
"This announcement left a lot of us with sadness, anger and overwhelmed," she said. These were safe spaces for individuals to use substances under medical supervision, reducing drug poisoning deaths and essential health services."
She adds that those who are affected will face increased risks of overdose, displacement and death.
"These new hubs will offer an opportunity for reform, but it is crucial that these new initiatives do not replace existing ones, but build upon them and create a comprehensive and effective approach to harm reduction."
WRIDS would also like to see any new programs be designed by experts and those with lived experience to get the most out of this transition.
"Why are politicians who never leave their office get to make these decisions that will impact our ability to save lives," said Fry. "This is not an opinion-based subject, no one else argues over other forms of healthcare."
