Latest news with #Health Canada
CBC
a day ago
- Health
- CBC
'No plans' to renew safer supply funding after federal support quietly runs out
Social Sharing Dozens of safer supply pilot programs lost federal funding earlier this year and Ottawa says there are no plans to re-up its financial support. Starting in 2020, Health Canada provided financial backing to 31 programs across the country that offered "prescribed alternative" opioids to people with addictions. The overdose crisis has rocked Canada over much of the past decade. Health Canada reports that more than 52,000 people have died of an apparent opioid overdose since 2016. Almost three-quarters of those deaths involved fentanyl. According to Health Canada, it only takes a few grains of fentanyl to kill someone. The goal of safer supply programs is to offer prescribed, safer alternatives to illegal street drugs like fentanyl. In recent years, reports have also indicated that illicit opioids have become increasingly laced and contaminated with other substances — including drugs never meant for human consumption, like the animal tranquilizer known as xylazine — making the street supply even more dangerous. Federal funding sunset at the end of March, but Health Canada told CBC News in a statement that "there are currently no plans to resume previous projects or fund new [prescribed alternatives] projects." The federal government is still providing funding for a number of other harm-reduction and treatment initiatives. Rob Boyd, CEO of Ottawa Inner City Health, told CBC News that his organization's prescribed alternative program was able to maintain support for most of its clients. "We knew that the program was about to end, that the funding was about to end. So we had a mitigation strategy in place," he said. But the lack of funding has meant that the program hasn't been able to take on new clients. "We really do need to scale up harm reduction rather than to pull back," Boyd said. Beyond prescribed alternatives, Boyd's organization provides access to other health services and housing supports. "It really is about providing access to physical, mental and substance use health care for people," he said. "Sometimes that includes medications, and sometimes it doesn't." When asked if the Liberals are considering further funding for safer supply programs, a spokesperson for Health Minister Marjorie Michel didn't directly answer the question. But they suggested there are "many ways" the government is addressing the overdose crisis. "We are using every tool available to connect people to care, address urgent local challenges and keep our communities safe, including measures at our border to detect and disrupt the fentanyl trade and other toxic drugs," Guillaume Bertrand, Michel's communications director, told CBC News in an email. Even if the federal government renewed its funding, Ottawa Inner City Health and other Ontario programs wouldn't be allowed to apply without permission from the provincial government — a new rule in Ontario's Community Care and Recovery Act that took effect this spring. Safer supply — and harm-reduction programs in general — have been a point of attack for the federal Conservatives against the governing Liberals in the past year. Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has repeatedly called on the government to dial back harm-reduction policies and instead focus more on treatment. Katy Merrifield, a spokesperson from the leader of the Official Opposition's office, told CBC News in a statement that a Conservative government would end "drug liberalization experiments." "Liberals disproportionately fund programs focused on stigma, harm reduction and vague references to 'wrap-around care.' Their reckless choices have destroyed countless families and made our communities unrecognizable after years of crime and decay," Merrifield said. One of the concerns around prescribed alternative programs is that the drugs get diverted to the street supply. British Columbia changed its program earlier this year — to require people to take the prescription in front of a pharmacist — in an effort to clamp down on diversion. But NDP health critic Gord Johns argues prescribed alternatives can save lives. He said it is "heartbreaking" that the government hasn't reintroduced funding. "This is not leadership, it is neglect. People are dying and this government is choosing politics over evidence, and ideology over action," Johns said in a statement. Boyd pushed back on the idea that the prescribed alternative program hasn't been helpful. "It's unfortunate that right now there has been this anti-harm-reduction and anti-safer-supply narrative that's out there that is not really consistent with what the evidence is showing," he said. "If the water is contaminated, you bring in clean water. [If] lettuce is contaminated, you pull it off the shelf and then you source lettuce that is not going to harm people." The latest report published by Ottawa's safer supply program suggests that it was having some success — 85 per cent of clients surveyed reported a decrease or halt in their fentanyl use. "We've demonstrated that they are actually very effective programs and they should be part of the toolkit," Boyd said. "We never said it was going to solve every problem because we're not naive enough to think that."
CTV News
20-07-2025
- Business
- CTV News
Planning and pricing separate good garage sales from bad: deal hunters
Bargain hunters check out tables of goods set up at the Great Glebe Garage Sale, in Ottawa, on Saturday, May 27, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang Candy Ingram was hooked on garage sales from the first time her parents dragged her along to one. 'I was 20 or 21, with my mom, and I put my hand in a box of jewelry and pulled out a gold ring, so all that got me going,' recalled the Winnipeg woman who now goes to garage sales weekly and has hosted several. In the decades since she struck gold, she's learned it takes much more than a box of jewelry to make a garage sale a hit. Success hinges on planning and pricing — processes she thinks should begin almost as soon as the urge to declutter or earn some extra cash through a garage sale strike. 'Make yourself three piles: give away, keep and then, of course, your garbage pile,' said Ingram. Whatever doesn't fit in any of those can be ideal for a garage sale — with some caveats. Health Canada says anyone hosting a garage sale is legally responsible to ensure products sold, whether new or used, meet safety standards. That means no selling baby walkers, which were banned in April 2004, cribs made before 1986 or protective sports equipment like helmets more than five years old or without a CSA International safety sticker. Baby gates, car seats, strollers, playpens, toys, kids clothes with drawstrings and jewelry also come with Health Canada requirements for anyone selling them or even giving them away. If an item can be sold, the seller should check to see whether it is working, has all of its parts or has any damage, said Jeremy Gruman, one of the organizers of the Great Grandview Garage Sale in Vancouver. Sometimes you can sell items missing a piece or in need of repair, but it should be disclosed to the buyer. Assessing what you want to sell should begin long before your sale so you know the state of what you have to offer but also so you can start 'the emotional work of detaching yourself from these things,' Gruman said. 'The sooner you start thinking about the stuff you want to get rid of, the better,' Gruman said. 'I'm a total pack rat and I often realize I don't need this ... and I can put this on the front lawn next weekend and hopefully sell it for $5 and, and then not have this clutter in my home and in my life.' Once you've got your haul together, check what laws your municipality has around garage sales. Some cities have a limit on the number you can host annually or require you to get a permit. If you're able to proceed, pick a date that isn't a long weekend or holiday, said Ingram. Saturdays and Sundays in spring or fall work best, though Fridays are gaining in popularity, she said. When a date is selected, you can start advertising. Share details about your sale on Facebook or other online spaces and make signs you can put up in your neighbourhood. 'Have the address big and clear,' said Patricia Sawicki, another Winnipeg-area garage sale hopper. 'Somebody's not going to get out of their car to go read your sign and write down your address but if they can see it from their car clearly while they're driving, they're more likely to go.' Think about your pricing, too. For some people, that means checking out what items are going for on online marketplaces or at thrift stores. Don't expect to be able to sell items for as much as a retailer would new. 'I have seen a lot of garage sales fail,' said Sawicki. 'If something was $40 at Walmart, they had it for $30. That's not the point of garage saling.' Once an item leaves a store, Ingram said it drops in value by 30 per cent. Knock another 30 to 50 per cent off to arrive at a garage sale price, she suggested. If the item is showing signs of wear or is dented or missing a part, reduce it even further. No matter what you price things at, expect people to scoff and haggle. 'People are picky and most of us want something for nothing,' she said. That attitude can lead some people who visited the sale in the morning to circle back at the end of the day hoping to pick something up dirt cheap because you don't want to have to haul it inside again. While the potential buyer's logic is sound, Ingram said sellers then have to decide how desperate they are to have an item off their hands for far less cash than they expected to get. If you want to get a fair price, Ingram said, 'you do have to learn to bite your tongue.' This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 17, 2025. Tara Deschamps, The Canadian Press
