Vigil held for opioid-related deaths
The Downtown Mission held a vigil Monday evening, honouring those who have lost their lives through an accidental drug overdose.
“A Night to Remember” took place at the Mission’s courtyard on Victoria Avenue.
Many overdoses are the result of opioids. According to the DTM, statistics from the Windsor Essex County Health Unit reveal that:
- In 2020, there were 63 opioid overdose deaths reported by the Office of the Chief Coroner of Ontario;
- Forty-one per cent of all opioid-related deaths were males aged 25-44;
- Fentanyl was the most common opioid identified in 2020 opioid-related deaths in WEC, occurring in 65% of opioid-related deaths.
As a result of decisive interventions by DTM staff trained to use Naloxone, 88 opioid overdoses were reversed, and lives were saved in 2020.
“This is special time to come together as an extended family to find peace and healing,” says Ron Dunn, Downtown Mission executive director.
“When a Mission guest dies, there is an emptiness we all feel,” he says. “We mourn as we would members of our family because we are their family.”
Brittany Lavin, manager of programs and services at the Downtown Mission, says many of them seemed comfort at the mission.
“Because people are struggling doesn’t mean they’re any less deserving of a funeral of celebrating life, of just basic respect and this just kinda sheds some light that they’re here, they’re humans too at a baseline,” she says.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Maple Leafs fall to Bruins in Game 3, trail series 2-1
Brad Marchand scored twice, including the winner in the third period, and added an assist as the Boston Bruins downed the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round playoff series Wednesday
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
New Indigenous loan guarantee program a 'really big deal,' Freeland says at Toronto conference
Canada's Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland was among the 1,700 delegates attending the two-day First Nations Major Projects Coalition (FNMPC) conference that concluded Tuesday in Toronto.
'Life was not fair to him': Daughter of N.B. man exonerated of murder remembers him as a kind soul
The daughter of a New Brunswick man recently exonerated from murder, is remembering her father as somebody who, despite a wrongful conviction, never became bitter or angry.