The St'át'imc Chiefs Council declared a state of local emergency July 17, spurred by a toxic drug crisis in their community, which has led to “significant loss of life,” according to a notice posted on Lil’wat Nation’s Facebook page.
Eleven Chiefs signed the resolution from St'át'imc Nation, which includes Ts'kw'áylaxw, Xáxtsa, Xxlip, T'it'q'et, N'Quatqua, Tsalálh, Xwisten, Sekw'el'wás, Samáhquam, Skátin and Lil'wat.
“This declaration reflects the urgency of the situation and our collective commitment to protecting our people. Lilwat Nation will be working with other St'át'imc communities to coordinate supports and actions,” the notice reads.
Lil’wat will share more details about the planning process as they become solidified, but the Nation asks community members to practice harm reduction and check on one another.
Community members can access harm-reduction supplies at Lil’wat Health & Healing, located at 11090 Black Bear Rd, Mount Currie, which also provides counselling support for substance abuse. It’s open Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Anyone in need of immediate assistance should call 911.
Other supports include Pemberton’s emergency clinic at 1403 Portage Rd, Pemberton. The clinic is open seven days a week from 8:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m., and clinicians are on-call 24/7.
First Nations Health Authority has a crisis line, KUU-US, which people can access by calling 1-800-588-8717 at any time.
Since the province declared a toxic drug crisis in 2016, more than 16,000 deaths have been reported from the contaminated drug supply. First Nations Health Authority reports show that in 2024, 427 people died from poisonous drugs, at a rate 6.7 times higher than the rest of the province’s population.
This spring, Tsilhqot'in Nation went to the United Nations to call for more support in their communities from the province and the federal government. First Nations Chief Francis Laceese said these deaths are a "continuation" of ongoing harms from colonization and residential schools.
For toxic drug alerts in your health authority, text JOIN to 253787. The text alert program is a partnership between Towards the Heart and the BC Centre for Disease Control. For more information on the province-wide service, visit towardtheheart.com/alerts.
