'We need action': Treaty 6 chiefs declare opioid crisis emergency

The Confederacy of Treaty 6 First Nations is calling on provincial and federal governments to provide immediate support to address the deadly opioid crisis. 

The nations declared a state of emergency on Monday at their annual general meeting. 

Treaty 6 territory covers the central regions of Alberta and Saskatchewan. 

Figures provided by the Confederacy of Treaty 6 First Nations show Indigenous peoples in Alberta are seven times more likely to die of opioid toxicity. Leaders say death rates have spiked since the provincial government closed safe consumption sites.

Grand Chief Leonard Standingontheroad said people will continue dying if harm reduction isn't made available and hopes provincial and federal leaders step up to the plate.

"We need action right now, not just talk about it," he said.

The confederacy said 71 First Nations in Alberta have already declared an opioid crisis state of emergency, but only about two dozen have received funding to come up with solutions.

The chiefs noted the Indigenous Health Equity Fund, announced in February, promised $2 billion in federal funding over 10 years, but they said it was not communicated well and funding has not been provided. 

Dr. Esther Tailfeathers, the former medical lead for the Indigenous Wellness Core Network at Alberta Health Services, applauded the Treaty 6 chiefs for taking a stand.

"All of our nations are suffering and we're burying people daily," she said. 

"We're asking for help and nobody's helping."

Tailfeathers, who now works as a family doctor in Blood Tribe, said Indigenous communities are routinely left out of obtaining proper resources to handle addiction issues. 

Tailfeathers said recovery treatment beds promised to First Nations are often non-existent or inaccessible and that's part of the reason why her community launched harm reduction treatment programs in 2014.

"[The province] can continue to preach abstinence-based therapies, but people can't even make it to the abstinence-based therapy because they're dying on the streets," said Tailfeathers.

"We're creating an eventual crisis that's going to be even larger than today."

She said if the Alberta government is unwilling to provide support, the federal government needs to step in.

Carolyn Bennett, Canada's minister of mental health and addictions, told an event in Edmonton on Monday that solving the opioid crisis means listening to the Treaty 6 chiefs and giving them the support they need.

"There's no treatment model for people who are dead," she said.

Alberta Mental Health and Addiction Minister Dan Williams said in a written statement the province is partnering with First Nations in the spirit of reconciliation.

He joined Indigenous leadership in calling on Ottawa to provide more support to nations, as they have been "absent in this conversation for far too long."

"The federal government has failed to support First Nations to address addiction, and Alberta has been left to address the issues resulting from their failures," said Williams.

"There is no solution to the deadly disease of addiction that does not involve partnerships with First Nations and a shared focus on recovery, which is why Alberta's government is making these investments.

"Our government will continue to work with the Confederacy of Treaty 6 Nations to address the deadly disease of addiction in Alberta."

As for Standingontheroad, he said the confederacy already has a plan on how it will help its people. 

"We just want commitment in the dollars to make this happen."