Public Health Sudbury and Districts released their detailed report, Honouring Voices, Embracing Perspectives, Moving Forward: A Summary Report on the Greater Sudbury Summit on Toxic Drugs. Starting from 2016, Canadians have grappled with a progressively uncertain and hazardous drug supply, leading to 38,514 apparent opioid toxicity deaths recorded between January 2016 and March 2023.
Within the same timeframe, there were a total of 37,697 hospitalizations related to opioids and 16,231 related to stimulants in Canada (excluding Quebec) (Government of Canada, 2023a). This intricate societal challenge persists, leading to avoidable deaths, injuries, an unprecedented strain on emergency services, and heightened utilization of health resources.
Ontario has suffered a significant loss of its residents due to drug toxicity and related harms, with over 2,800 Ontarians succumbing to opioid-related causes in 2021 alone (Public Health Ontario, 2023a). Northern Ontario, in particular, has borne a disproportionate impact: from 2020 to 2022, its per capita opioid toxicity death rate was 2.6 times higher than the provincial average, while Greater Sudbury’s rate was 3.0 times the provincial rate (Public Health Sudbury & Districts, 2023; Office of the Chief Coroner, 2023).
From December 7 to 8, 2023, a gathering of 189 community and agency leaders, encompassing representatives from Indigenous communities and individuals with firsthand experience of substance use, convened at the Greater Sudbury Summit on Toxic Drugs. During the Summit, participants united in the pursuit of positive transformation, fostering a climate of hope, collaboration, and compassion as they listened, learned, and reflected. This collective effort aimed to bring about change and implement solutions.
The Indigenous Advisory Committee was also a crucial component of the summit, amplifying the voices and experiences of Indigenous peoples who are over represented in the toxic drug epidemic. The committee sought to share their worldview and perspectives on healing and creating strong relationships in order to collectively tackle the escalating and compounding devastation disproportionately affecting Northern Ontario.
“The Summit was organized based on an understanding that we require unified efforts to stop the preventable deaths and suffering caused by toxic drugs in Greater Sudbury,” said Dr. Penny Sutcliffe, Medical Officer of Health for Public Health Sudbury & Districts. “Like puzzle pieces coming together, the Summit brought diverse leaders and perspectives together, including those with lived and living experience of substance use. We were challenged to use our heads and our hearts to better understand the human impacts and to figure out what more can be done. With an improved shared understanding, we are now better equipped to stop things that don’t work and ramp up things that do—focusing our energy on saving lives,” added Dr. Sutcliffe.
Across the span of two days, the Summit featured presentations from more than 35 experts, encompassing individuals with firsthand experience of substance use, epidemiologists, research scientists, and specialists in harm reduction, treatment, health and social services, public health, education, justice, and industry. Additionally, participants gained valuable insights from Indigenous teachings provided by First Nations leaders, Elders, and Knowledge Keepers. The overarching priorities pinpointed include the need to address systemic stigma in the healthcare professions, enhancing collaboration across sectors, removing barriers to access to treatment and to secure funding for long-term impact on the ongoing crisis.
Among the calls to action, the following are being prioritized: a comprehensive heath promotion stratify that centres on guidance by community youth; an increase in supportive, transitional and affordable housing and identifying a lead agency to help persons living with addiction to navigate systems and to identify and highlight gaps in services to enable organizations to address them.
A pivotal recommendation based in harm reduction models is to secure safe supply for those who use substances, it is based in the philosophy that keeping people alive long enough to seek treatment best honours their human dignity. The report also calls for basic income for individuals and families and ‘ensuring ongoing access to supervised consumption at sites that are accessible and that include services aligned with client needs’.
“The Summit was a great opportunity for networking with people from all walks of life who share a commitment to addressing the toxic drug crisis. I am encouraged and hopeful for positive change to come,” said James Gough, Chair of the People with Lived and Living Experience Advisory Committee for the Greater Sudbury Summit on Toxic Drugs.
“The work is not done. The value of bringing people together to share ideas and hear from those most affected by the crisis allowed us to collectively get behind evidence-based solutions that can be tailored to Greater Sudbury. While individually, each organization is instrumental in actioning priorities contained in the report—together, we must ensure we are coordinated and accountable to our entire community and move toward a hopeful, brighter, and safer future for all,” said Ed Archer, Chief Administrative Officer at the City of Greater Sudbury.
Practical steps for moving forward were also announced and are as follows:
Summit participants are asked to consider dialogue and priorities put forth by the Summit and to advance actions within their own sector and sphere of influence; that Public Health Sudbury and Districts together with the City of Greater Sudbury convoke to create a community oversight structure and develop protocols to advance Summit priorities, to ensure community accountability and progress reporting; The City of Greater Sudbury’s Community Drug Strategy (CDS) is set to propel the priorities outlined in the Summit. Simultaneously, the CDS will evaluate its own operations to enhance alignment with the Summit’s three streams. Efforts will be directed towards establishing connections with community partners to foster alignment, cohesion, and accountability. The pivotal inclusion of Indigenous voices and individuals with lived and living experiences will play a crucial role in realizing these priorities.
“In the face of a relentless drug crisis that has touched so many people in every corner of the country, we must remember that behind each statistic lies a person with loved ones. Our collective duty is to offer empathy, understanding, and hope as we focus on protecting communities and providing support along everyone’s unique journey.” — Penny Sutcliffe,
Medical Officer of Health and Chief Executive Officer
Public Health Sudbury & Districts
The entire report is available on Public Health Sudbury and District’s website at: www.phsd.ca
