We need urgent action to tackle our substance abuse crisis

An average of eight people die every day in Ontario from drug poisonings. That’s 3,000 people every year.
 
It’s an issue affecting communities across Ontario.
 
The Peterborough and the Kawarthas Chamber of Commerce is echoing the comments of the Ontario Chamber of Commerce (OCC) in its latest policy primer Beyond Emergency Declarations: Charting Ontario’s Course Through the Substance Use and Overdose Crisis.
 
In fact, our local chamber is leading a new Chamber working group under the OCC involving chambers of commerce and boards of trade from across the province to share best practices and find meaningful solutions to one of the biggest issues we’re dealing with.
 
In a press release about the new policy primer, OCC President and CEO Daniel Tisch says:
“Businesses across Ontario find themselves near the frontlines of an evolving social crisis that they are ill-equipped to manage. With rising security costs and dwindling customer traffic, they see risk to their employees, their customers, and their future. Our report also highlights high fatality rates in some sectors, such as construction. Without urgent action, our province faces devastating, long-term socio-economic harm.”
 
The goal as stated in the report is to frame the ongoing conversation about addiction management by simplifying the complex narrative surrounding substance use, bridging the knowledge gap among stakeholders and emphasizing the need for evidence-based, community-informed solutions that prioritize public health principles, prevent mortality, and improve recovery outcomes.
 
The report itself is only seven pages and packed with good information. It’s well worth a read, but I’ll pull out a few key points.
 
Peterborough is well above average in our number of opioid deaths. While Ontario averages 17.6 deaths per 100,000 people, Peterborough sits at 53.2. All of those with higher rates are in Northern Ontario in places like Thunder Bay, Timmins and Sudbury. The report notes that addictions issues are hitting northern, rural and First Nations communities particularly hard.
 
There is a lot of context when it comes to which communities are dealing with significant issues. For example, the issue in First Nations communities is magnified by the effects of colonization and residential schools as well as issues like inadequate housing and poor access to clean water. Access to healthcare and addictions services have a big impact on addictions and mental health issues, something that also creates more barriers in more rural communities.  
 
Seeing Peterborough with three times the opioid toxicity mortality rate of the provincial average is humbling. Our community is hurting. It’s hitting our families, our workplaces, and our friends.
 
Simranzeet Singh Vig, Senior Policy Analyst at the Ontario Chamber of Commerce, sums things up well:
“Collaboration between industry, government, healthcare leaders and community organizations is paramount. We believe that through improved data collection that enables direct comparisons of provincial outcomes, Ontario and other jurisdictions can learn from one another and mitigate the impacts on our communities.”
 
The report ends with three recommendations which are themselves merely the next steps in this discussion:
 
Ontario stands at a pivotal juncture in confronting the substance use and overdose crisis. While stakeholders welcomed provincial commitments in the Roadmap to Wellness Plan and additional investments in Ontario’s Addictions Recovery Fund, Ontario’s strategy must better engage and reflect the concerns of businesses and local communities, who find themselves at or near the frontlines of the crisis. Actions should include:
 
1. A review of the operating procedures and practices of existing interventions to reduce the unintended harm that can be caused to communities, while ensuring the crisis is managed through a public health approach that prevents mortality, improves recovery outcomes, reduces stigma and respects the dignity of all people.
 
2. Improved data collection that enables direct comparisons of provincial outcomes to ensure that Ontario and other jurisdictions can learn from one another.
 
3. Support for both a strategy and a culture of collaboration – with industry, government, healthcare, and community organizations working together to mitigate the impacts of this crisis on people and communities everywhere.
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