Drug overdose deaths are down by 24 per cent between April last year and this April, but still B-C’s Coroner says 182 people died.
Fentanyl remains the primary killer, with the drug detected in 82 per cent of test results for those who died so far this year.
The coroner’s service says nearly half of those who overdosed were between the ages of 30 and 49.
The latest figures lift the number of deaths since the public health emergency was declared eight years ago to 14-thousand 582 people.
The Liberals have promised in their new confidence and supply agreement with the NDP that they will pass a Canada Pharmacare Act by the end of next year.
Public Services and Procurement Canada assistant deputy minister Simon Page said Tuesday the process is “very active, very live” as he was grilled by a parliamentary committee over the lack of a decision.
The money was announced in Budget 2022, and much of the funding, $7.47 million, is an increase to the budget for Legal Aid BC to support lawyers delivering legal help in the province.
An agreed statement of facts read in court by Crown counsel Jay Fogel said Loreto was killed on March 17, 2021, before her burned body was found in Burnaby's Greentree Village Park the next day.
There are 254 individuals hospitalized with COVID-19 and 48 are in intensive care. In the past 24 hours, no new deaths have been reported, for an overall total of 2,974.
With the Conservatives set to pick their new leader Sept. 10, the party would have more than two years to prepare to face Canadians in a general election, assuming the Liberal-NDP deal holds.