Heather Hobbs

😩

Victoria doctor's social media videos are educating millions on health issues faced by unhoused people Jill Wiwcharuk is a Victoria-based family and ER physician who has an alter ego on Instagram. She goes by "Street Doctor Jill", and she has accrued millions of views for her videos on the challenges h...

"We've got all the evidence about how to address homelessness & substance use... the studies we need now are why do politicians not listen to evidence"

- Dr Wiwcharuk paraphrasing Dr Urbanoski (2 smart cookies)

@uviccisur.bsky.social
@jodypaterson.bsky.social
@dsdp.ca
www.cbc.ca/player/play/...

while the BCNDP was caving to the diversion moral panic and severely limiting its safe supply program, the public safety ministry was acknowledging in budget preparation documents that hydromorphone only accounted for 0.3% of VPD drug seizures by weight

“It definitely speaks to policy being driven by electioneering, vote-mongering, that kind of thing, as opposed to following the evidence,” he said. “It also speaks to this kind of general unwillingness to defend their own policies when they’re perhaps viewed as controversial by some people.”

How Many People Are Overdosing at BC’s Hospitals? | The Tyee That data is key to knowing where supervised consumption sites are needed. The government won’t release it.

After seven months, seven #FOI requests and two Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner complaints, The Tyee is no closer to a strong understanding of how many people are surviving overdoses as patients in B.C. hospitals.

@michellegamage.bsky.social reports. #bcpoli #ToxicDrugCrisis

We want to extend a heartfelt thank you to the whole team at @crackdownpod.bsky.social for including us on this journey and in particular @alexdeboer.bsky.social. This episode was so well produced. Crackdown is the beating heart of our community and they need your help.

In British Columbia, Drug Policy Rollbacks Are Limiting HIV Care - Filter Harley Ransom began practicing harm reduction in southeastern Ontario in the late 1980s, when he was 6 years old. His ...

"Accessing safer supply supported their adherence to HIV medications," said Andrew Ivsins, a researcher with the BC Centre on Substance Use. "It’s a really important relationship."

Decriminalization worked. B.C. killed it anyway ⋆ The Breach The province’s drug decriminalization experiment lowered arrests and reduced harm—but it failed a different political test

B.C. cancelled its drug decriminalization pilot, saying it hadn’t “delivered the results” they wanted.

Its results: fewer drug users arrested and traumatized by cops.

@desmondcole.bsky.social explains that when governments cave to moral panic, we lose good policies. breachmedia.ca/decriminaliz...

Prescribed #SafeSupply is hanging by a thread in BC but AVI Health & Community Services is still doing their best, providing access to harm reduction workers & walking the talk on "meaningful inclusion." This work will be featured at @cpha-acsp.bsky.social's #ph26sp

www.catie.ca/programming-...

How do you create a regulatory pathway so Canada can implement a non-medical model of safer supply to save lives in the middle of a public health crisis?
Not even the guy who was No. 2 at Health Canada could think of a way. The fed gov makes drug laws, and can’t think of a way to get around them.

DULF Challenge: Health Canada Official Flounders on the Stand - Filter A senior Canadian bureaucrat struggled on the witness stand to reconcile past statements by the federal government with its claim ...

“Did you do anything to refresh your memory in order to testify meaningfully today?” asked the judge.

At a hearing re DULF's constitutional challenge, a senior Health Canada official struggled to reconcile government claims with past statements on safe supply, reports @godfrey.bsky.social:

15 movement victories in 2025 you may not have heard about ⋆ The Breach From recognition of a Palestinian state, to tenant strikes, to a Youth Climate Corps, here are some of the political achievements of the past year

Ending the year on a good note at @breachmedia.ca:

15 political movement victories in 2025 you may not have heard about but should definitely celebrate, by @scottneigh.bsky.social

breachmedia.ca/15-movement-...

Premier Eby hazardously misrepresents Sublocade while endorsing forced treatment of youth Extended release buprenorphine is not

Last week, BC NDP Premier Eby made misleading claims about Sublocade.

A decade into BC's toxic drug emergency, there is a heightened risk when government leaders promote this type of disinformation. It should not be acceptable.

Read in more detail: themainlander.com/2025/12/10/v...

Calgary police withhold evidence of brutality as final UofC protest charges fall New documents reveal Calgary Police Service suppressed evidence of brutality by officers at the University of Calgary on May 9, 2024. Among this was camera footage from senior officers that should hav...

In which I pay Calgary police $250 for the privilege of seeing them beat me into concussion, for them to decide months later not to hand it over.

Their reason?

The evidence could influence a public body’s opinion of the beating.
drugdatadecoded.ca/calgary-poli...

Over black background, gray font pattern reads, "FUND AIDS HEALTH CARE NOW." Bold white font over black text box at top center reads, "We cannot go back." Slightly smaller hot pink font over black text box reads, "AIDS health care must be funded." NHRC white and rainbow gradient 30th anniversary logo in bottom right corner.

🧵The #HarmReduction movement & NHRC exist because people living with & dying of #AIDS — & others who loved & cared for them — stepped up to take care of each other when the government left them behind. Today, we see heightened attacks on the very programs & services we fought so hard to create to...

A black and white image of the Canadian parliament buildings, overlaid with a red HIV ribbon. Below the image is a red box, with the following text overlaid in white: "Media Release - HIV Legal Network launches key recommendations for the Government of Canada to end the HIV epidemic in this country."

Today, the HIV Legal Network was joined by people living with HIV and other health experts on Parliament Hill to call for increased leadership and commitment from all levels of government to end the HIV epidemic in this country.

www.hivlegalnetwork.ca/site/hiv-leg...

On #WorldAIDSDay, the message is simple:
Fund advocacy. End criminalisation. Defend community power.
@UNAIDS’ World AIDS Day report makes the situation clear: the global HIV response is entering its most dangerous period in two decades. A sudden collapse in donor funding has devastated services.

Health minister asks Island Health to look at spike in overdoses in Duncan There are also reports that a shelter ran out of the overdose-reversing drug naloxone.

You know who is NOT overdosing on Vancouver Island? People with access to prescribed alternatives.

@vanislandhealth.bsky.social @josieosborne.bsky.social

www.timescolonist.com/local-news/h...

A raised fist, clenched in power. Text reads: "WE REFUSE: Health Workers Against Involuntary Care. A joint statement and call to action from Harm Reduction Nurses Association and Doctors for Safer Drug Policy." Below that are logos for HRNA and DSDP.

We Refuse: Health Workers Against Involuntary Care is now public.

@hrna.bsky.social and DSDP are circulating a joint statement opposing BC’s plan to expand involuntary drug treatment. This approach is ineffective, increases overdose risk, violates autonomy, and harms marginalized communities.

We Finally Have Some Info on School Liaison Officer Training | The Tyee After two years of FOI requests and complaints, the Vancouver police finally let The Tyee review some training modules.

You wouldn’t believe the lengths @kehyslop.bsky.social had to go to to get basic info on the training for school liaison officers. This contoversial VPD program was briefly shuttered in 2021 before being reinstated in 2023. #vanpoli thetyee.ca/News/2025/11...

The contrast between @davidebybc.bsky.social's cowardly comments and Jeremy's principled actions are stunning.

DULF saved lives.

#NoMoreDrugWar #CdnPoli

Today is National Housing Day, for whatever that's worth.

Vancouver Island drawing more international attention for deadly public policy.

#CdnPoli
@vanislandhealth.bsky.social

Eye on the ball folks — DULF Charter challenge begins in four days.

Legal fund still needs your help: www.zeffy.com/en-CA/donati...

Remembering Peter Krykant, Who Knew Harm Reduction Couldn’t Wait It’s been a few months since Peter Krykant’s passing in July, at the age of 48. He hit the global ...

"Drugs are not forbidden because they are dangerous, they are dangerous because they are forbidden,” said Peter Krykant, who "hit the global harm reduction scene with a bang," running an unauthorized overdose prevention site from a van in Glasgow.

People who knew and worked with him pay tribute:

A ripped apart copy of Alberta Bill 9.

Alberta just introduced Bill 9, which exists for one and only one purpose: deleting the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms as it pertains to trans kids, denying them the right to life and stripping their healthcare away.

This is cruel, anti-democratic and anti-constitutional.

Health Canada convened an independent expert advisory group in 2020 to provide guidance on safer supply. Health Canada heavily redacted its final report, but unredacted version obtained by CBC shows the expert group said drug crisis is driven by prohibition and recommended expansion of safer supply

DULF Founders Guilty of Drug Trafficking | The Tyee Eris Nyx and Jeremy Kalicum didn’t have permission to sell tested drugs despite good intentions, court finds.

DULF co-founders Eris Nyx and Jeremy Kalicum were found guilty of possession with the intent to traffic this morning for meth, heroin and cocaine.
My full story on @thetyee.ca
thetyee.ca/News/2025/11...

There is no political cost for our deaths. The mountain of corpses has led to no government falling, no minister resigning, no cabinet shuffle, no high-ass muckedy-muck getting sacked, not even a junior official suspended. Nothing.

Court finds DULF guilty for compassion club "heralded as success" Convictions are on hold as the compassion club founders prepare for a Charter challenge to begin on November 24.

📣 DULF found guilty for life-saving compassion club 📣

But WAIT! Not so fast…
drugdatadecoded.ca/court-finds-...