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Organizers of Calgary’s International Overdose Awareness Day rejected a request by associate health minister Brandy Payne to speak at the event, saying that the province’s inaction on the opioid crisis is contributing to the deaths of hundreds of Albertans.

“I felt it was rather arrogant of our government to feel that they should be granted the opportunity to deliver yet another canned message on a day that is for so many families about remembering their loved ones,” said Rosalind Davis, co-founder of Changing the Face of Addiction, a Calgary-based non-profit.

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In 2016, 368 Albertans died from fentanyl-related overdoses. That number is up significantly in 2017. In the first six months of 2016, 156 people died from fentanyl-related overdoses. During the same period in 2017, 241 people died.

“That’s 241 more families stumbling through grief. We just don’t think that the government has acted with any sense of urgency. Whether or not that demonstrates apathy or incompetence or discrimination, we just didn’t feel comfortable having Minister Payne get up and speak,” said Davis.