Sask. woman calls for more addictions supports after losing 2 family members to fentanyl

LaureenPelletier-Wesaquatewill sometimes thinkshe has caughta glimpse of her son pedalling hisbike in Regina and feels a surge of happiness.Then her stomach sinks and her heart breaks once again, asshe realizes it was onlyher mind playing tricks.

Her son, Clinton Hotomanie Jr., died from a fentanyl overdose on Feb. 11, 2021.

"Ithink that's him, then I remember, he's gone."

Pelletier-Wesaquate's grief remains heavy. It's also complicated by further loss. As shewas trying to process her son's death,she received a call frompolice. They said heroldest granddaughter Nikkia Sugar diedon Feb. 15, 2021, just days before her 16th birthday also from fentanyl.

"To find out they were gone, it was just really devastating," she said, speaking from her home at Piapot First Nation, Sask. "Losing children, especially to that terrible demon of fentanyl, is really hard."

Pelletier-Wesaquate is part of the growing group ofSaskatchewan parents grieving because of fentanyl.At least 170 peopledied by accident from fentanyland135 from acetyl-fentany in2021, according tothe province's Coroners Service.

WATCH|Pelletier-Wesaquate lost her son and granddaughter to fentanyl within a week:

This woman lost her son and granddaughter to fentanyl within a week

3 years ago

Duration 0:13

Laureen Pelletier-Wesaquate is facing a battle of insurmountable grief. Her son died from a fentanyl overdose. As she was trying to process his death, she received a call from police who said her oldest granddaughter had died just days before her 16th birthday also from fentanyl.

She never wants another parent to experience the pain she has gone through. She's leaned onprayer to work through this, but it's still hard for her not to become overwhelmed with raw emotion when she talks about it.

The hardest part is trying to console her late son's eight-year-olddaughter, who she is raising.

"I feel so helpless when she cries for him," she said. "I tell her, her dad's gone to heaven. She says 'well, kokum how can I get to heaven? I want to go see my dad.'"

Addictions fuelled by trauma

Pelletier said she knows dozens of people affected by fentanyl as the drug spreads further throughthe province.

"A lot of them are lost because of broken homes," she said, adding it seems to be people trying to cope with past hardship who are turning to drugs.

"No one who's an addict wants to be an addict. It's not a life that someone chooses," Elizabeth Plishka said. Plishka is thedirector of support services at Prairie Harm Reduction, which operates the province's first supervised consumption site forpeople living with addictions in Saskatoon.

Plishka said their clients living with addiction are often dealing with other complications like intergenerational trauma, poverty or homelessness.

"It's a response to trauma and they're trying to numb that."

Pelletier-Wesaquate can trace the lines of trauma through generations of her family, from her dad who was shaped by abuse at residential school, to her late granddaughterwho grew upin and out of the foster care system.

She also faced her own addictions in adulthood.

"I put [my children]through a lot because of my addictions. I wasn't a good parent and I didn't know how to be a good parent," she said. "I'm trying to change that with my granddaughter. I tell her I love her everyday. I encourage her."

Calls for change

Beyond breaking cycles within her own family, Pelletier-Wesaquatewantsmoredonefor people living with addictions in Saskatchewan. She wants toraise awareness about the dangers of fentanyl, but also about the need for more supports.

Pelletier-Wesaquatewants a supervised consumption site established in North CentralRegina, so people living with addictions in the area can stay alive until they're ready to heal.

• Regina's first supervised overdose prevention site opens downtown
• Community steps up for Prairie Harm Reduction drug consumption site after Sask. gov't refuses

There's onerelatively new overdose prevention site operating close to downtown at the Newo Yotina Friendship Centre, whichonly recently secured enough money to expand itsservices to the weekends.

According to statistics from Regina police,about 65 per cent of the overdoses in 2021 occurred in the "central" part of the city. They documented 160 fatal drug overdoses in Regina last year (up from 21 deaths in 2019 and 111 in 2020). City police were aware of 1,800 overdoses in 2021 several each day but the police chief said thenumber is likely much higher as many non-fatal overdoses go unreported.

Building relationships

Pelletier-Wesaquate wonders if a supervised consumption site might have saved her son's life. She said hisspirit seemed to slip away, masked by the addiction.

"Before the drugs took over he was always laughing," she said. "He was always happy and laughing around and teasing, and he loved his little girl so much."

• 'It's always heartbreaking': Regina police beg public to see dangers of opioids

She said a supervised consumption site could offer people like her son a safe place to go not just to use drugs, but to access basic comfortslike ahot cup of coffee or a supportive ear.

"They're stuck in this ugly world of fentanyl and they don't see no way out," she said. "They've been kicked around for so long because they do drugs and looked down upon."

Plishka said a key function of the supervised consumption site in Saskatoon is to build relationships and trust with the people who use it.

"Substance use can be a lifelong battle for some, and so we're able to support people long term in a non-judgmental way," they said. "When someone like us is able to say, 'we don't see your substance use as a moral issue,' then they're really able to open up."

Fatal overdoses preventable

The Saskatoon site has been used hundreds of times,but there has not been a single fatal overdose.

"Laced substances is a reality. But when people are educated, when they have access to services, when they have access to Naloxone, then every single overdose death is preventable," Plishka said.

Saskatchewan's overdose numbers have been trending up over the last several years, but 2021 was the worst on record by far.Preliminary data shows 442 people died from or are suspected to have died fromoverdose in 2021. The trend appears to be continuing, as49 people are believed to have died by drugs in the first month of 2022.

Plishka said organizations like PHRare limited in their ability to help more people because they areunder-funded in Saskatchewan.

"If we had sustainable, reliable funding and we only had to concentrate on service provision, then we would be able to do so much more."

Pelletier-Wesaquatebelieves that thekindness offered to people through harm-reduction-focused centres is critical in helping people who, like her son and granddaughter, are caught in a complicated web of trauma.

"Sometimes they need to see there is hope."

Saskatchewan's deadliest opioids

3 years ago

Duration 1:55

Take a look at the differences between the opioids that lead to the most overdose deaths in Saskatchewan.