Lək̓ʔəŋən [LEKWUNGEN] TERRITORY / VICTORIA, B.C. — This is a day of profound grief. In 2026 alone, nearly 800 British Columbians have lost their lives because of overdoses. British Columbians have lost parents, friends, neighbours, siblings, and children.
As we grieve, we must continue to challenge the conditions that have led to this preventable harm. Deaths from toxic drugs are not inevitable, but the results of policy choices. Lives can, and must be saved by those who have the power to change these policies. How we honour those who have died is measured by how we treat those we can still keep safe.
To do so, our political system must recognize that people who use drugs are not a monolith. Many people who use drugs live in apartments and homes, like you; they hold down jobs, like you; they have friends and family, like you. Two-thirds of overdose deaths occur alone, at home. There has never been an overdose death at an overdose prevention site. Demonizing drug use, a political strategy of the failed war on drugs, only encourages people to use drugs in the most dangerous way: alone.
The overdose crisis is fundamentally a healthcare crisis. Accessible, affordable housing, universal mental healthcare, regulated alternatives, voluntary treatment centres, strong, supportive communities—these are the healthcare measures that save lives and benefit all of us. Until our government chooses evidence-based, harm reduction-focused solutions over stigma and fearmongering, people will keep dying of preventable deaths.
Today we remember and grieve those who we have lost, and reaffirm our vow to fight for a safer British Columbia.
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