Compassion, Inclusion, Engagement (CIE) is a provincial partnership between the First Nations Health Authority and the BC Centre for Disease Control to address stigma and discrimination experienced by people who use substances, particularly those who are Indigenous. As part of our Reducing Harms priority, the Foundation is thrilled to have raised $110,000 towards this incredible initiative that is supporting people with lived and living experience of substance use (peers) create change in their own communities.

CIE supports people with lived experience, primarily in remote and rural communities, in forming peer groups. Peer groups have been instrumental in advocating for the rights of people who use drugs and for meaningful change in drug policy that saves lives. CIE peer groups are empowered and supported in two ways: through skill and capacity building and through seed funding.

By providing capacity building support, these groups learn tangible skills in how to organize, develop a mission, learn about navigating group dynamics, grant writing, financial management and more. The seed funding that’s provided is to support their on-the-ground work, which ranges from operating peer-run overdose prevention sites, training and distribution of naloxone and harm reduction supplies, providing needle clean up, and providing employment and income to members.

Charitable donations to this program support both the skill building and seed funding, allowing peers to make a difference locally, in a way that is relevant to their members and community. This program is important to public health because of its ability to save lives in the context of a public health emergency, its proven success of reducing stigma associated with substance use, and because of the social determinants of health that it addresses.

There are always more peer groups and work to do. You can join the others who have made this work possible by making a gift to our reducing harms priority today. Follow along with us as we highlight some of the fantastic groups and their work in the coming weeks, and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

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Last week, Her Excellency, the Right Honourable Julie Payette, Governor General of Canada, announced 83 new appointments to the Order of Canada. Among the list of Members of the Order of Canada is our very own Dr. Perry Kendall, CM, OBC.

The Order of Canada is one of our country’s highest honours. Dr. Kendall has been recognized for his leadership in the public health sphere both in British Columbia and across the country, notably as an advocate for harm reduction and as a champion for indigenous health.

Dr. Kendall has been one of BC’s most outspoken voices in the ongoing opioid crisis, having been the one to declare the situation a public health emergency in 2016…which unfortunately continues today. He presided over the opening of Insite in Vancouver, the first legal supervised injection site in North America. He said in a 2018 interview with CBC, that one of the main challenges now is changing public opinion. “Over 80% of the people who are now dying are dying because they are using drugs alone. I think a lot of that has to do with the stigma around illegal drug use and dependency.” 

Dr. Kendall also helped create the First Nations Health Authority, a province-wide body dedicated to providing health, addiction and prevention services for First Nations people – the only one of its kind in Canada. 

Perry was appointed as the first Provincial Health Officer for BC in 1999 and held this position for nearly 20 years. During this time, British Columbians dealt with SARS, the H1N1 pandemic, the 2010 Winter Olympics emergency preparedness, as well as the start of the overdose crisis, with Dr Kendall at the helm – advising the public on health issues and the need for legislation and policy/practice change on various public health issues.

We couldn’t be more proud of Dr. Kendall, and to have him on our Board of Directors. For a more complete bio of Dr. Kendall, and all of our Board Members, click through to our Board Member listings. 

The post Board Member Accolades appeared first on Pacific Public Health Foundation.