Hundreds of people are attending a two-day national conference in Calgary focused on addiction and recovery.
The Canadian Capital Recovery Conference will be held April 3-4.
The conference is expected to be attended by 2,000 people and will cover a range of topics, including Alberta’s current model of care.
Alberta’s model is focused on recovery – and the province insists it works.
According to the province, there has been a 70 percent drop in deaths linked to pharmaceutical opioids, a 41 percent drop in deaths from methamphetamines and an approximately 60 percent drop in the number of people dying from the drug. cocaine and alcohol.
But when considering total drug poisonings, more than 1,800 Albertans died in the first 10 months of 2023, putting the province on track for a record year for overdose deaths once the last two months are counted .
The conference begins just one day after the Alberta government announced significant changes to its addiction services.
On Tuesday, as part of a major restructuring, Premier Danielle Smith unveiled two new agencies tasked with providing mental health and addiction services.
Recovery Alberta will be responsible for providing mental health and addiction services currently covered by Alberta Health Services.
The province is also creating a new crown corporation called the Canadian Center for Excellence in Recovery.
Critics like the Health Sciences Association of Alberta (HSAA), a union that represents health-care workers like paramedics, say Alberta’s abstinence-only policy has failed and the province needs to move to a policy evidence-based and health worker-led.
The HSAA is participating in the conference and will hold an availability Wednesday to call on the UCP government to change its vision of addiction services.
