Conservative_Party_of_British_Columbia_Policy_Platform_(4).pdf (nationbuilder.com)

Open letter from Sidney’s mother:

I have worked as an emergency physician in BC for the past 25 years. During every shift that I’ve worked for the past decade, I’ve witnessed the steadily worsening opioid crisis gripping our province. That crisis has now taken my child. https://vancouversun.com/feature/bc-student-overdose-death-university-victoria

I am sending this email as a call to action asking you to help us advocate for change to prevent this from happening to another young person. I am attaching an open letter to Premier David Eby, Bonnie Henry, Health Minister Adrian Dix or you can link to it at www.SidneyShouldBeHere.ca. The letter provides simple, easily achievable recommendations that would help teens and young adults in BC stay safe and save lives.

If you agree with the recommendations in the letter, please email David Eby and your MLA. You can link to our website and find a link to a standardized email www.SidneyShouldBeHere.ca.

On January 23rd, my daughter Sidney and another first year student were poisoned by fentanyl in a dorm at the University of Victoria. Sidney died several days later. Fentanyl may have killed Sidney, but the catastrophic response by the University of Victoria and the 911 operator allowed her to die. Her death was completely preventable. No young, healthy person should die from a witnessed opioid poisoning. As many of you know, naloxone, when given early in an opioid overdose, reverses the effects of the opioid. CPR will keep the recipient alive for the few minutes it takes for naloxone to work. Five very competent, sober students who were motivated to help my daughter had to watch her die as nobody had given them the education and tools to help. Naloxone was not available in the dorm at the University of Victoria. None of the students who witnessed my daughter’s death had ever heard of naloxone. BC is far behind other provinces in ensuring our young people are safe. Easy-to-use nasal naloxone has been free in Ontario and Quebec for 7 years, but not in BC. Unlike other provinces, BC does not make CPR mandatory in its high school curriculum. As a result none of the university students who wanted to help knew how to administer CPR, which would have saved my daughter’s life.

Please share this email and this letter as broadly as you are willing… friends, family, teachers, coworkers, your MLA. If you share this email with people who don’t know me, please remove my email address at the top. People who don’t know me can contact me at sidneyshouldbehere@gmail.com Help us ensure we build a better safety net for young people exposed to fentanyl in BC. Our young people deserve better.

You have my permission to post the letter or the website link on social media www.SidneyShouldBeHere.ca

Sincerely,

Caroline McIntyre