Yukon reports 1 suspected and 2 confirmed opioid-related deaths
CBC
The Yukon Coroner's Service is reporting one suspected and two confirmed opioid-related deaths.
These bring the total number of opioid-related deaths in the territory this year up to nine, with a possible tenth still under investigation.
In an update, the coroner's service said the deaths happened between Jan. 5 and Feb. 22. It said fentanyl was confirmed in all nine of the cases, with the tenth one pending.
The update stated that eight of the 10 deaths were in Whitehorse. It also said that seven of the people were Indigenous, and that five of them were men and five were women.
"The [Yukon Coroner's Service] is beginning to see more First Nations citizens being affected, as well as more women and people in younger age groups. Alcohol remains a factor in many cases," the update states.
It added that benzodiazepines had been confirmed in three of the cases.
The 10 deaths represent 40 per cent of all cases investigated so far this year by the coroner's service, which has a mandate to investigate all sudden, unexpected deaths in the territory.
In 2021, the coroner's service said, there were 24 opioid-related deaths in the territory.
Of those, 20 were in Whitehorse. Sixteen were male and eight were female, and 14 were non-Indigenous while 10 were Indigenous. Fentanyl was involved in every one of the deaths.
"These deaths were preventable and our communities continue to struggle with the grief and pain associated with the loss of life from the substance use health crisis," Heather Jones, Yukon's chief coroner, said in the update.
Last November, she said the territory had the highest rate of deaths due to opioids in the country, at 48.4 deaths per 100,000 people.
Between 2016 and 2019, 23 people in the territory died from opioids, according to Jones.
Brontë Renwick-Shields, executive director of Blood Ties Four Directions, a Yukon harm reduction organization, said her group sees a growing problem.
"We have seen, of course, an increased demand for our services with the increasing number of overdoses that we're seeing in our community," she said.
When Gurdeep Khinda moved from India to Montreal 30 years ago, he thought his dream of becoming an actor on stage was over. He was too busy navigating his new life and there weren't any theatre groups in the city catering to the Indian community at the time.
More than 53,000 Manitobans have accessed birth control at no cost in the first year of the provincial government's free contraception program, the province says.
The Niagara Regional Police Pipe Band is inviting beginners and youth to try its free music program to help carry on the world-calibre musical ensemble's tradition.
Mayors of municipalities across southwestern Ontario say they’ve focused on the things they could control this year, as the U.S. trade war with Canada and the world has hammered local economies.
A house filled with snakes and spiders might be straight out of many people's nightmares, but to longtime exotic pet keeper Nolan Asplund, they’re like family.
The Ontario government is introducing new rules for publicly advertised job postings in the new year, but questions remain over whether the changes will result in tangible benefits for jobseekers.
Did you know ambulance services on Prince Edward Island were once largely provided by funeral homes?
The past 12 months brought big political headlines, new partisan players and plenty of parliamentary surprises. How much do you remember from it all?
The Ontario government has quietly given itself the power to override archaeological protections on development sites.
A freezing rain event that's left roads and trees across southwestern Ontario coated in ice has also seen emergency crews overwhelmed with calls for help from people without power and snapped trees.
Annette Dionne, the last surviving Dionne quintuplet and a champion of children's rights, has died.
The Newfoundland and Labrador government is warning of multiple scams circulating leading up to the holidays.
The painted bunting usually calls the southern U.S. home and travels south at this time of year, but one decided to spend its Christmas holidays up north in Bayfield, N.B.