Kokum Sarah
@kokumsarah.bsky.social
Lakotah's mom and kokum to my amazing granddaughter. Assistant Professor of Indigenous Peoples Education, Nehiyaw Iskwew, Beadworker, Harm Reduction Advocate.
Please read and share. Thank you! Governments are responding to the toxic drug crisis with "organized abandonment," withdrawing support and leaving people vulnerable to harm, poverty, and death. From myself, @msthpetra.bsky.social and @kokumsarah.bsky.social open.substack.com/pub/heartsal...
Declining Population Means Fewer People Left To Die
by Sarah Auger, Petra Schulz and Angela Welz
open.substack.com
30Jan26 Update Alberta 16: 688 (NDP) 17: 862 (NDP) 18: 956 (NDP) 19: 800 (NDP/UCP) 20: 1,413 (UCP-Lethbridge SCS closed) 21: 1,889 (UCP) 22: 1,778 (UCP) 23: 2,140 (UCP-Red Deer SCS closed) 24: 1,496 (UCP) 25: 1,141 Jan–OCT (UCP-RAH YEG SCS closed Dec) Total: 13,163 DRUG POISONING DEATHS SINCE 2016
Sturgeon Lake Cree Nation, the Blackfoot Confederacy, and Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation say they have 'legitimate concerns that Elections Alberta is ill-equipped to deal with the potential of foreign interference in the referendum.' www.aptnnews.ca?p=282869
First Nations in Alberta sounding alarm over foreign interference
First Nation chiefs say they have “legitimate concerns that Elections Alberta is ill-equipped to deal with potential foreign interference."
aptnnews.ca
NO CBC. This is not how drugs work and it's not how you do news. This is Fox-style drugs reporting. www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
A public school board trustee in Prince George says she was boxed in by RCMP vehicles and ordered out of her vehicle by officers with guns pointed at her on Tuesday. Erica McClean, a Gitxsan First Nation member, says she was terrified.
Gitxsan First Nation member 'terrified' after police encounter
A school trustee in Prince George, B.C., says she was "terrified" after being ordered out of her vehicle at gunpoint by police.
aptnnews.ca
My son Lakotah died from the toxic drug supply 3 years ago. Jail increased and intensified my son's drug use. It placed him in impossible situations which I could not help extricate him from. Incarceration is not and will never be compassionate care. open.substack.com/pub/momsfora...
At Least They’re in Jail
When Containment Gets Mistaken for Care
open.substack.com
📣 New Report: Unpaid family caregivers are doing essential and often invisible work. Our new community report 🧪shares what caregiving looks like for families supporting people who use drugs in rural Western Canada. Read more: static1.squarespace.com/static/5ac64...
windspeaker.com/news/opinion...
Open letter to Minister of Indigenous Services Canada regarding State of Emergency declaration
We write to you with deep urgency and grave concern. The Matawa First Nations Chiefs formally declare a State of Emergency in response to an escalating crisis affecting the safety, well-being, and sur...
windspeaker.com
"Liberation doesn’t hinge on extraordinary individuals; it requires structural transformation. When we elevate “heroes,” we risk distorting accountability and reinforcing inequity." (Celeste Pedri-Spade, para 12) theconversation.com/thomas-king-...
Thomas King: As we learn another ‘hero’ is non-Indigenous, let’s not ignore a broader cultural problem
Indigenous people are more than stories. We deserve a future where our identities are not commodities, and accountability is measured by actions that build trust and repair harm.
theconversation.com
www.ctvnews.ca/vancouver/ar...
Indigenous B.C. mom’s years-long legal fight comes to an end with Supreme Court of Canada decision
The Supreme Court of Canada will not hear an appeal of a decision awarding $150,000 in damages for discrimination to an Indigenous mom in B.C. whose children were taken from her and put in foster care...
ctvnews.ca
Do you make... Paintings, pots, sculptures, sketches, photographs, quilts, digital art, beading, textiles, mini figs, printmaking & any other visual art... Whatever skill level you're at, if you made it, it's mostly sfw, and not AI (never AI) I want you to participate! Starts in 4 days! #art
#ArtAdventCalendar
In its 11th year, #artadventcalendar participants post an original piece of art from Dec 1-24. Paintings, drawings, sculpture, textiles, beading, photography. If it’s art and it beautifies th…
earthskyart.ca
www.policeoversight.ca/p/harm-reduc...
Harm Reduction Nurses Association & Doctors for Safer Drug Policy encourage colleagues to stand down from implementing BC NDP Mental Health Act changes
Proposals to expand so-called “involuntary treatment” for substance use disorders is not a health intervention, it is a political response to fear, misinformation, and moral panic.
policeoversight.ca
Survey Results from Mayoral Candidates: part 1 #yegcc #yegmunicpalelections #yegelections2025 #yegmayor #yegmunicipalelections2025
Can’t wait for our next post? Read mayoral and city council candidates’ full responses on our website, here: cssdp.org/chapters/edm...
Edmonton
The Edmonton chapter's recent work focuses on involuntary care and political advocacy.
cssdp.org
CSSDP Edmonton@cssdpedmonton.bsky.social · last yr.Survey results are in! Tune in throughout the week as we post responses of our candidates thoughts on Edmontons Drug Poisoning Crisis. First up: Mayoral Candidates! #yegcc #yegmunicpalelections #yegelections2025 #yegmayor #yegmunicipalelections2025
👀 ”Under the provincial government’s health-care restructuring, meant to streamline care, Primary and Preventative Health Services provides the funding to Primary Care Alberta, which in turn funds Recovery Alberta.” www.ctvnews.ca/calgary/arti...
Safeworks no longer providing needles, pipes to Calgary partner agencies
Grassroots harm-reduction teams in Calgary say the province’s health restructuring has halted their access to free needles, pipes and other supplies that help keep drug users safe.
ctvnews.ca
My friend says it all. We don't get to take off our orange shirts and tuck them away for another year.
Petra Schulz@msthpetra.bsky.social · last yr.Another day of reconciliation day is over, yet the children of Indigenous mothers continue to die from a poisoned drug supply. 🧡💔🧡
The days between my son's birth (Oct 6) and his death (Dec 19) are always the most difficult. I can already feel the intense grief settling in my bones. It's unrelenting. #grief #childloss
Reconciliation includes recognizing Residential Schools are not the only colonial atrocity
Reconciliation includes recognizing Residential Schools are not the only colonial atrocity
When it comes to reconciliation in Canada, we need to remember that the colonial history encompasses many assimilation tactics and its impacts are ongoing.
theconversation.com
YEG mayoral candidate Michael Walters backs involuntary treatment which is harmful and ineffective. Forced care violates rights, fuels stigma and fails. Lives are saved by harm reduction, housing and voluntary supports. Vote wisely, not for him. urbanaffairs.ca/frankly/desp...
Desperate Times Call for Desperate Measures | Urban Affairs
It’s time to add more tools to fight the addiction crisis
urbanaffairs.ca
I connected with @drdagly.bsky.social and he allowed me to share his story as a physician working the front lines with patients and families of overdose victims as a blog post for @momsstoptheharm.bsky.social www.momsstoptheharm.com/blog/2024/11...
There’s a really bad batch out there right now ... — Moms Stop The Harm
Trigger Warning: This content discusses topics related to drug overdose and death, which may be distressing for some individuals. Please proceed with care and prioritize your well-being. Submitte...
momsstoptheharm.com
On the surface, Ontario's "Safer Municipalities Act" seeks to address public drug use. In this brief, Brianna Olson-Pitawanakwat Mskwaasin Agnew, and Kelsi Balaban argue it maintains too-familiar traditions of Indigenous displacement and colonial harm: yellowheadinstitute.org/2025/ontario...
“When city workers confiscate personal belongings like tents and harm reduction supplies from people sheltering on the street, it increases their risk of non-fatal overdose and physical and sexual violence, according to a new study.” #bcpoli
Crawford Kilian@crof.bsky.social · last yr.'Street Sweeps' Increase Overdose and Violence Risks, Study Finds via @thetyee.ca thetyee.ca/News/2025/09...
Monday Sept 22 Noon - 1:30 pm Collective Action to Prevent Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACES) and Promoting Healing in Youth Growing up with Parental Substance Use Challenges Agnes Chen, Registered Nurse, Starlings Community albertahealthservices.zoom.us/webinar/regi...
