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.
Crowds that first arrived Friday have thinned out considerably on Parliament Hill and the surrounding area, where anti-COVID-19 restriction demonstrators have been protesting, and honking loudly, for days.
There are 28,302 active cases of COVID-19 in the province, and 293,488 people who tested positive have recovered. Of the active cases, 1,035 COVID-positive individuals are in hospital and 139 are in intensive care. The remaining people are recovering at home in self-isolation.
Dr. Bonnie Henry says 706 people have been hospitalized in the last week, but the numbers appear to be peaking. She says patients who contracted the dominant Omicron variant are going home in about half the time compared with those who are sickened with the Delta variant.
Jody Wilson-Raybould says allowing Indigenous self-determination would support the cultural, social and economic well-being of Indigenous Peoples, while giving nations, governments and industry the certainty needed during a transitional time.
Leader Jagmeet Singh is putting his weight behind the bill, tabled by his NDP colleague Gord Johns, decriminalizing the possession of small amounts of drugs including cocaine and heroin.
He wrote that MPs who want him out are confused about what direction to take the Conservative party--which has been a source of concern under O'Toole's tenure.