On April 14, 2016, the BC Provincial Health Officer declared a public health emergency around the significant increase in opioid-related overdose deaths. Since that time, we have all been impacted as the lives of over 16,000 people have been lost in our province. We have also seen the nature of the crisis evolve into one of mass drug poisoning among an unregulated supply, while our workers continue to burnout, become injured, and lack a social safety net to catch them as they fall.

We now find ourselves in a tumultuous political landscape. Efforts to privatize healthcare which impact us all, the recriminalization of drug use less than halfway through the decriminalization pilot project, and the expansion of carceral options over compassionate care have all become polarizing and heavily politicized topics with real human consequences.

In this time, we call for love in the face of all difficulty. We wish deeply for all those carrying grief and struggle to find themselves alleviated, this day and always, by connection in the face of needless loss of valued life. We recognize how our struggles intertwine: that we are all being pulled away from community for the need to work to survive the rising costs of living, that barriers to accessing care and housing lead to increased strife and emergency for us all.

Those with lived experiences know the way forward is by getting through this together. Experiencing mental health injury and illness, substance use, and a never-ending desire to be of good service to others, who we intrinsically owe so much simply as fellow human beings reliant on one another to see a better world, teaches us that the answer must be empathy and evidence-based. We know that an unregulated drug supply leads to preventable death. We know as workers that the partitioning of care silos and alienates us – especially when we are not able to mobilize our skills at the times that they are most needed, back into our communities. On top of that all, we also must contend with working long hours to afford life and have little leave time afforded to us.

During polarizing times where we are feeling the pressure of dwindling empathy, we also call for everyone, government included, to lean into compassion in actions, words, and policies. We cannot allow our love to harden. We need accessible public healthcare for all and to push back against privatization of our services. Our health and social care must also meet the needs of communities and loved ones so that we aren't trapped in an endless cycle of individualism and so we can rest assured that those we care about will be fully cared for.

We wish for everyone to find a moment of rest and reflection on this day, to care for themselves and their loved ones with gentleness, and to say emphatically to all of us who are struggling, working and fighting for a kinder world: solidarity forever.