By Shaun Penner

Opioid Crisis

Mayor Given looking ahead, not backward in opioid fight

Jul 11, 2019 | 5:30 AM

Despite continued efforts by city officials, community groups and residents of Grande Prairie, numbers released last week by Alberta Health show Grande Prairie had the highest rate of fentanyl related deaths in early 2019.

The report shows that 11 people in the Swan City died as a result of accidental fentanyl related poisoning between January and March of this year. That creates a rate of 59 people per 100,000, more than 22 people more than the next closest city in Alberta, that being Lethbridge.

Mayor Bill Given says it is tough to see those numbers, since a lot of the work in the community had led to some success in late 2018.

“The big thing is that it is absolutely disappointing and saddening to see a back slide, but we have to remember that this is a crisis,” said Given. “For every two steps forward, it wouldn’t be a surprise if occasionally we take one step backward. But as a community, we have to continue that forward momentum.”

One of the underlying issues with the crisis continues to be the misconception that the crisis involves mostly the street population. However, many of those fatalities show that the issue goes well beyond the homeless community and affects people in all walks of life.

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“Most of us in our daily lives consume some kind of drug. I have my morning coffee and I couldn’t start my day without it,” said Given. “But it really does run the range of people who lead, what we would call, very normal and average lives, who are functioning members of society and are exposed to risk of fentanyl and opioid related deaths.”

The following map further illustrates where those fatalities have occurred in Grande Prairie within 2019.

Courtesy: Alberta Health

“It demonstrates that the areas that there were deaths in Grande Prairie are not only in the downtown core,” said Given. “Many of our residential neighborhoods have seen deaths, as well as in our hotels and a variety of different locations.”

Given has been at the forefront of the fight against the opioid crisis during his time as Mayor. He commissioned the Community Opioid Response Task Force here in Grande Prairie back in December 2017, as well as initiated the soon-to-be-operational Intermunicipal Opioid Response project. The project will coordinate efforts and intel from many different municipalities across Alberta.

That project may come as an excellent resource to the community, as municipalities such as Red Deer and Medicine Hat are going to be a part of the collaboration and have recently seen big decreases in the rate of fatality this year.

At this time though, Given says the biggest things the community can do is continue the conversation to shed the stigma surrounding opioid addiction and further open up the conversation, as well educate the community of the dangers surrounding drug use, either street or prescription.

“We’re going to continue on the path that we have. We have a very collaborative effort in our community, where our community agencies, law enforcement, the city, the business community and other groups are all working together to take every step that we can to increase awareness.”