Members of the Tsilhqot'in Nation
were at the United Nations headquarters in New York City on Thursday
calling for the British Columbia and Canadian governments to help expand
support services in the battle against the toxic drug crisis.
Chief
Francis Laceese said the crisis is a "continuation" of threats
Indigenous Peoples have faced in the form of residential schools and the
smallpox epidemic that devastated Indigenous communities in B.C. in the
early 1860s.
"We weren't supposed to be here anymore. The drug
crisis is a continuation of this threat to our survival," Laceese said
of Canada's residential schools, which separated more than 150,000
Indigenous children from their families.
"I
think the government has to intervene, especially the Canadian
government and British Columbia, to help us with this crisis," he said.
There
had been a meeting recently with B.C. officials to discuss the crisis
and impending closure of a four-bed detox centre in Williams Lake, he
noted.
Thursday's news conference, which the U.N. says was
sponsored by Canada's permanent mission to the world body, came one year
after the Tsilhqot'in National Government declared a local state of
emergency following a spike in deaths from toxic drug poisoning in its
six member nations in central B.C.
"I think the statistics will
show how many people have passed just in our community or at the nation
level, B.C. level," said Laceese, the chief of Tl'esqox First Nation and
vice chief of the Tsilhqot'in National Government.
Asked about
harm-reduction measures such as overdose prevention sites and B.C.’s
program that provides prescription alternatives to toxic illicit drugs,
the executive director of the Tsilhqot'in National Government said
access is a challenge because of the remote nature of many communities.
“We
don’t have a lot of those,” Jenny Philbrick said of harm-reduction
services. “We’re looking for total wraparound services moving forward
for our people.”
The First Nations Health Authority released data
this month showing 427 members of First Nations in B.C. died of a toxic
drug overdose last year.
It marked a 6.8 per cent decrease from
2023, but the death rate was still an average of 6.7 times higher than
other residents of the province.
The health authority's chief
medical officer, Dr. Nel Wieman, said that represents "the largest gap"
between First Nations members and others since B.C. declared a public
health emergency over toxic drugs in 2016.
The Tsilhqot'in Nation
said last April when it declared the local state of emergency that toxic
drugs, combined with the historical and ongoing harms of colonialism,
were contributing to higher rates of overdose deaths among Indigenous
Peoples.
The statement called on "all ministries and agencies to
work together to end this loss of lives" and pointed to a lack of
treatment facilities.
Chief Roger William with the Tsilhqot'in
National Government told Thursday's press conference that they need help
to address the crisis "in our own way," in part through culturally
centred programming
"On-the land treatment processes. Supportive
recovery through equine therapy. Funding to support our culture and
language," he said.
He
said Tsilhqot'in members often face racism and discrimination in
health-care settings, such as hospital emergency rooms, and they need
provincial and federal help to improve access to treatment and recovery
services.
William said expanding supportive housing is also a key
part of the fight against the toxic drug crisis. The basic needs of
Tsilhqot'in members must be met in order to stop their "people from
falling into using drugs," he said.
He said there had been some progress working with government.
"We're saying that it's not enough" to address the crisis, he said.
William
noted his nation is not the only First Nation in B.C. grappling with
the crisis, and others have also declared states of local emergency.
"(We) want to find space for all First Nations to come together and talk about solutions," he said.
Sierra
William, a member of the Xeni Gwet'in community where Roger William
serves as chief, also took part in Thursday's press conference.
She
said smallpox, residential schools and the Sixties Scoop — during which
children were taken from their homes and adopted by predominantly
non-Indigenous families — had all led to trauma in Indigenous
communities.
Canada's Truth and Reconciliation Commission outlined
a decade ago what must happen to improve the well-being of Indigenous
Peoples, she said.
"If the calls to action were to be realized, some of our people wouldn't have a reason to turn to drugs," she said.
William said for her, self care doesn't mean taking a bubble bath.
"Self
care for us is doing things to connect us to our culture, to our ways
of life. The exact things (that) were taken away from us through
colonization."
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission had called
for sustainable funding for existing and new healing centres to address
the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual harms caused by
residential schools, William noted.
The commission, which was
tasked with researching Canada's residential school system, found the
institutions were rife with abuse.
The commission estimated 6,000
children died in the schools, the last of which closed in 1996, though
experts have said the actual death toll could be much higher.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 24, 2025.
LINK: https://www.chroniclejournal.com/news/national/b-c-first-nation-at-un-calling-for-government-help-in-battling-toxic-drug-crisis/article_0a3b24c5-5419-5d28-aace-4deb2ccbdb14.html
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