It’s an issue affecting communities across Ontario.
The Peterborough and the Kawarthas Chamber of Commerce is echoing the comments of the Ontario Chamber of Commerce (OCC) in its latest policy primer Beyond Emergency Declarations: Charting Ontario’s Course Through the Substance Use and Overdose Crisis.
In fact, our local chamber is leading a new Chamber working group under the OCC involving chambers of commerce and boards of trade from across the province to share best practices and find meaningful solutions to one of the biggest issues we’re dealing with.
In a press release about the new policy primer, OCC President and CEO Daniel Tisch says:
“Businesses across Ontario find themselves near the frontlines of an evolving social crisis that they are ill-equipped to manage. With rising security costs and dwindling customer traffic, they see risk to their employees, their customers, and their future. Our report also highlights high fatality rates in some sectors, such as construction. Without urgent action, our province faces devastating, long-term socio-economic harm.”
The goal as stated in the report is to frame the ongoing conversation about addiction management by simplifying the complex narrative surrounding substance use, bridging the knowledge gap among stakeholders and emphasizing the need for evidence-based, community-informed solutions that prioritize public health principles, prevent mortality, and improve recovery outcomes.
The report itself is only seven pages and packed with good information. It’s well worth a read, but I’ll pull out a few key points.
Peterborough is well above average in our number of opioid deaths. While Ontario averages 17.6 deaths per 100,000 people, Peterborough sits at 53.2. All of those with higher rates are in Northern Ontario in places like Thunder Bay, Timmins and Sudbury. The report notes that addictions issues are hitting northern, rural and First Nations communities particularly hard.
