First Nation in B.C. declares state of emergency over 'unrelenting' impact of drugs and alcohol

On the phone from his Vancouver Island home, Chief Simon John says he has no script to speak from. 

But he has plenty of frustration.

The chief of Ehattesaht First Nation, along with the Nation's council, declared a state of emergency in the community Thursday.

A statement cites the "unrelenting" impact of drugs and alcohol on Ehattesaht, along with "the intergenerational effects of residential schools and the oppression of the systems that the federal and provincial governments have created." 

The declaration's text states it aims to "generate the immediate and dedicated response the Nation requires from the federal and provincial governments to alleviate the suffering that [is] being felt in the Ehattesaht family."

"We have lots of different governments that actually own who we are as a people … The thing is that those things can't even collaborate on one thing to actually generate an outcome," John said.

"It's frustrating for sure."

John explains that solutions put forward by various government agencies have not helped Ehattesaht. 

He wants answers that are relevant for the people there, whose band office is in Zeballos, a small, remote community on a rugged inlet on the west coast of Vancouver Island.

"We're very isolated and we're very west coast people, basically," John said.

Ehattesaht is one of 14 Nuu-chah-nulth nations on Vancouver Island, with more than 500 registered members. Zeballos has a population of about 120.

The ongoing toxic drug crisis has led to deaths, especially since the COVID-19 pandemic began in March 2020.

The chief and council statement highlights there have been six young people from the Nation who've died since then. John says they ranged from their early 20s to their early 30s.