By Fred Alvarado
Fred is a community journalist with FOCUS MEDIA ARTS CENTRE

At Moss Park, indigenous community members and activists in Toronto’s Downtown East held a healing circle ceremony on August 31st, 2022 to honour and mourn those who have been lost to drug overdose and to raise awareness of the toxic drug poisoning health crisis exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic.

The healing circle was hosted by Les Harper, indigenous Health Promoter at South Riverdale Community Health Centre (SRCHC), featuring elder Wanda Whitebird and Northern Feathers, the First Harm Reduction based Dance Troop, traditional and contemporary indigenous dancers, Powwow drums, speakers, and more.

The overdose crisis in the Toronto’s downtown east communities and beyond involves so many systemic factors including the need for decriminalization of all drugs and drug use and the opportunity to redirect funding from policing and the war on drugs to putting that money into community resources, adequate housing and access to food, and fair treatment when accessing health care services.
Over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a dramatic increase in the number of both fatal and non-fatal overdoses, particularly urban indigenous communities across Toronto.
First Nations people are five times more likely to experience an overdose and three times more likely to die from overdose than non-first nations people according to the First Nations Health Authority.

International Overdose Awareness Day in Toronto is dedicated to raising awareness about the devastating impact of the ongoing opioid poisoning crisis and to helping reduce stigma and discrimination against people who use drugs.