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Loved ones of people addicted to drugs gathered in Sudbury on Saturday for International Overdose Awareness Day to highlight the challenges of finding help and the importance of showing compassion.

Nancy Joly is the mother of a person suffering from drug addiction.

It’s not easy, it’s frustrating, she said of seeking help.

She adds that there are organizations that help people addicted to drugs, but that the region needs more services, particularly for treatment.

Tina Gurtin, also a mother of someone living with addiction, says many people die while waiting for help.

We’re here to raise awareness about the drug problems that we see everywhere in our city now, not just downtown, adds Ms. Gurtin.

We don’t have the answers, we don’t have the solutions, but our hearts want to help.

A quote from Greater Sudbury resident Tina Gurtin

At the event, photos of several people who died from overdoses were placed on white crosses.

We hope to have more impact [avec les photos au lieu de juste mettre les noms]notes Nancy Joly.

Need funding for all stages of treatment

Paul-André Gauthier, a member of the Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario, says there is a need for better support for people with addiction issues, especially when they are not yet ready for detox treatment.

You can’t push people into treatment if they’re not ready.

A quote from Paul-André Gauthier, member of the Registered Nurses Association of Ontario

First, you have to develop trust, adds the nurse.

Mr. Gauthier emphasizes that supervised consumption centres, which the Doug Ford government does not include in its strategy to combat drug addiction, help establish this trust and guide clients towards services.

Sudbury NDP MPP Jamie West, who was also at the rally, said the Progressive Conservatives don’t seem to want to listen to the experts on supervised consumption.

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Several people, including Sudbury MPP Jamie West, marched to mark Overdose Awareness Day.

Photo: Radio-Canada / Ezra Belotte-Cousineau

Paul-André Gauthier notes that in the absence of harm reduction services, more people who use drugs end up in the emergency room, increasing the wait time for other patients.

He is calling on the province to take responsibility for health care and adequately fund services related to addiction treatment, including harm reduction.

With information from Ezra Belotte-Cousineau

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Rallies took place across Canada, including in Toronto.

Photo : Radio-Canada

The strike that has been weighing on the health care sector in Nova Scotia has been averted.

The three unions, UNIFOR, the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) and the Nova Scotia Government and General Employees Union (NSGEU) announced a tentative agreement signed with the employer Friday at 4:30 a.m. after a marathon day, reads a press release.

Contested legislation

Discussions with Nova Scotia Health and the IWK Hospital in Halifax focused on a staffing plan that would ensure essential services in the event of a strike.

Indeed, an essential services agreement is mandatory under the Health Authorities Act, legislation adopted in 2014 by the government of Stephen McNeil.

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The contested legislation was passed under Stephen McNeil’s government in 2014.

Photo : Communications Nova Scotia

Employee representative organisations believe that this law allows employers to drag out negotiations and delay the start of a potential strike.

In short, an agreement specifying which workers are essential and are not allowed to take work actions is required before health workers can legally strike.

Unions plan to prepare those documents and begin voting by the middle of next week, after the long Labor Day weekend.

The Council of Health Unions is made up of 9,000 health care professionals from across Nova Scotia in diagnostic imaging, laboratory, pharmacy, mental health and addictions, cancer therapy and paramedics.