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From YouTube: APRIL 17 2023 Statements Elenore Sturko
Description
The Legislative Assembly of British Columbia
4th Session
42nd Parliament
A
Member
for
Surrey
South.
Thank
you,
speaker,
April
14
2023
marked
the
seventh
anniversary
of
British
Columbia's
Declaration
of
a
public
health
emergency
over
increasing
overdoses
and
toxicity
deaths.
Since
the
Declaration,
more
than
11
000
people
have
died,
including
an
increasing
number
of
youths,
and
last
year
overdose
deaths
were
nearly
five
times
higher
than
they
were
in
2015
when
474
lives
lost
had
triggered
the
public
health
emergency.
A
The
statistics
are
grim
and
a
stark
reminder
of
why
urgent
action
is
needed.
Seven
years
later,
I
also
want
to
talk
about
the
lives
that
have
been
saved.
Thousands
of
people
in
BC
have
fought
back
against
their
addictions
and
are
now
in
recovery
since
becoming
the
mental
health
and
addictions
critic.
I've
visited
numerous
treatment
and
recovery,
centers
learning
about
services,
from
bed-based
residential
programs
to
outpatient,
counseling
to
group
therapy
and
12-step
programs
and,
most
importantly,
I,
have
been
meeting
resilient
and
courageous
people
who
are
working
hard
to
overcome
their
addictions.
A
I've
heard
remarkable
stories:
a
woman
who
had
been
living
in
a
tent
encampment
in
and
out
of
psychosis
now
in
recovery,
reunited
with
her
daughter
and
working
a
job
that
she
loves.
A
man
once
addicted
and
homeless,
living
in
the
downtown
east
side
now
living
in
recovery,
developing
programs
and
initiatives
that
will
help
others
who
are
ready
to
escape
their
addictions.
A
Recovery
is
not
often
a
linear
process,
but
one
that
might
include
relapse,
and
this
is
why
it's
important
that
we
support,
educate
and
care
for
everyone
along
their
path
to
Wellness.
We
need
to
continue
to
encourage
people
to
do
their
best
and
to
keep
them
safe
when
they
falter
and
to
let
them
know
that
there's
help
available
when
they
need
it.
If
you're
someone
in
recovery
I
want
to
say,
keep
going
one
day
at
a
time
better
is
possible
and
to
the
many
thousands
of
British
Columbians
still
struggling
with
an
addiction.