VICTORIA Glen Fawkes, 61, of Campbell River, was an accomplished helicopter pilot, business owner, loving husband and father. Now he is the face of a petition calling for an independent review of psychiatric emergency services on Vancouver Island. “Late winter, early spring of 2020 there were a lot of stressors,” says Lisa Fawkes, Glen’s widow. Lisa got sick, a tree had fallen on the family home and COVID-19 happened. That caused Glen to experience insomnia and anxiety. That turned into paranoia, psychosis and delusions. “Neither he or I had any experience with the mental health-care system and we quickly found that it was very difficult to navigate,” says Lisa.
Amidst calls for addiction services in Kamloops, a vocal West Victoria Street business owner is lobbying for a detox and recovery centre. Tru Market Truck and Auto owner Reid Hamer-Jackson said . . .
Fast-track to this week.
The B.C. government announced Tuesday that its new budget includes $330 million in funding over three years for the overdose crisis, which now kills more than five people a day in the province. Of that funding, 86 per cent is allocated to treatment a six-percentage-point increase since 2017. The rest of the funding is allocated to overdose prevention, a small budget of $15 million per year.
Perspective is important, especially when analyzing budget announcements designed to maximize political capital and distract from the obvious: nothing in this budget tackles drivers of the overdose crisis.
The drug supply in B.C. is poisoned. This is a well-known and widely documented fact. Between 2018 and 2020, fentanyl and fentanyl analogues were detected in 87 per cent of the toxicology reports conducted by the BC Coroners Service.
BC s Health Spending Breakdown: What s in the Budget, and What s Missing thetyee.ca - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from thetyee.ca Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.