A number of stakeholders that span an array of Bow Valley organizations and social services are hoping to develop a local strategy to address substance abuse.
The Town of Banff’s Community Connections has taken a facilitating role in the effort to bring together stakeholders like addiction services, victim services, RCMP, Settlement Services, the Bow Valley Immigration Partnership and Alberta Health Services.
So far, said Community Connections coordinator Heather Bates, there has only been one meeting and she hopes future meetings build a consensus around a local model to see a substance abuse prevention strategy developed.
“I do not know where it will go from here,” she said. “We are very strong on collaboration as service providers in the Bow Valley.
“What may be new coming out of these conversations is a new model to collaborative service provision.”
Many Bow Valley service agencies already work closely with each other on a wide array of social issues throughout Lake Louise, Banff, Canmore, the MD of Bighorn communities and Morley. Bates said with an already collaborative-minded community, it makes sense to gather agencies interested in addressing this issue and how it affects members of the community.
“Service providers are very collaborative, if they aren’t already talking about it they are open to talking about it,” she said.
Both Settlement Services and the Bow Valley Immigration Partnership are hoping that by being part of the conversation, the issue of substance abuse in the Bow Valley is considered through the ethno-cultural perspective of all residents.
With the 2011 census showing a 20 per cent population of people in the valley that were not born in Canada, changing demographics mean when developing a strategy specific to the valley, changes to different population segments should be considered.
“The role of Settlement Services and the Bow Valley Immigration Partnership is to identify trends and issues that might be affecting immigrants as a population that we are working with and create awareness,” Bates said. “Our role is to ensure conversations around social issues includes those considerations.”
Bow Valley Immigration Partnership coordinator Meaghan Stewart said a broader conversation on substance abuse and prevention should include considerations for how immigrant populations may be affected differently.
“There is a lot of interest at the meeting in continuing the conversation and finding a model to collaborate around with substance abuse prevention and support for those affected by it,” Stewart said. “There are existing collaborations, but what might come out of this is a new model.”
Recently, a Canmorite and permanent resident from the Philippines pleaded guilty in provincial court to possessing a stolen credit card – having taken it from a wallet lost at his place of employment.
John Marinas used the credit card to make $2,500 in transactions and was identified by surveillance footage. His lawyer, Dale Fedorchuk, detailed to court as part of his guilty plea that Marinas’s circumstances were the result of a crystal meth addiction.
Crystal meth is also known as shabu in the Philippines and estimates by the United Nations are that 10 per cent of the population of that country struggle with addiction to it.
Fedorchuk said his client was enticed to begin using crystal meth to help him work longer hours to support his family here and in the Philippines.
“He was offered crystal meth as a way to alleviate stress and coping with working longer hours,” he said.
Fedorchuk said the use of crystal meth in the Filipino community to work longer hours was not a “foreign concept” to his client when he was offered it as a way to help him “work longer hours and as an escape from his personal situation.”
The circumstances Marinas found himself in were brought to the attention of the Bow Valley Immigration Partnership.
Jeannie Godfrey with BVIP told the judge during sentencing that crystal meth use in the Bow Valley has come to the attention of her organization.
“We have become aware of the use of crystal meth in the Bow Valley and we have been working towards preventative measures to help with this alarming trend,” Godfrey said.
Stewart said that growing awareness that drugs are affecting specific populations in the Bow Valley differently led to BVIP and Community Connections to initiate the stakeholder meetings.
Crystal meth is not the only drug causing concern in the Bow Valley. Last year, residents of Banff were warned of bad drugs in the community after two young residents overdosed and died from Fentanyl.
Fentanyl deaths have reached a point in Alberta where the government has stepped up its prevention and treatment efforts. Albertans can now access take-home naxolone kits that can save the life of a person overdosing on the powerful opioid painkiller.
Like other Canadian provinces, Alberta has experienced a rapid rise in fentanyl-related overdose deaths. In 2015, there were 274 deaths compared to 120 in 2014, 66 in 2013, 29 in 2012 and six in 2011.
