Petra Schulz, Edmonton, AB and Mayne Island, BC

Petra Schulz is one of the three founding directors of Moms Stop The Harm. They started the organization together in May of 2016 after the three women from Edmonton connected with a common bond; the loss of their sons. Petra lost her youngest child Danny to an accidental fentanyl overdose in 2014.

Danny was 25 years old.  Danny loved to spend time with his family and friends, especially if it involved cooking a good meal. He was trained as a chef and worked in some of Edmonton’s best restaurants. He loved to play music with his friends, wrote some of his own lyrics and treasured getting together at the family cottage on Mayne Island, BC. 

Through the lessons learned from her personal experience and by sharing Danny's story Petra has become an advocate for drug policy reform aimed at reducing the harm associated with substance use.

She has been a speaker for TedX at MacEwan University, has represented Moms Stop The Harm and Danny at all levels of government, at conferences, community meetings, and professional organizations and universities (see highlights below). In 2018 Danny’s story and Petra’s advocacy work was featured in the documentary “Painkiller - Inside the Opioid Crisis”, a digital story called “Choices” that Alberta Health Services uses for staff training and in the anti-stigma campaign “See Beyond” (see links below).

As a member of the Access to Medically Supervised Injection Services Edmonton (AMSISE) working group, she contributed to the implementation of the first supervised consumption services in her home city.  In this role, she and other members of the group presented to and met with officials of the Government of Alberta, Alberta Health, Alberta Health Services, the City of Edmonton, Edmonton Police Services and many other community stakeholders.

Petra currently represents the family voice on the Health Canada People With Lived Experience council, on the Advisory Committee of the Institute for Sexual Minority Studies & Services (iSMSS) at the University of Alberta and the Friends and Family Advisory Group (LLEAFF) of the Canadian Centre for Substance Use and Addiction (CCSA), as well as the planning committee for the Canadian Drug Policy Coalition (CDPC) Stimulus Conference. From June 2017 to November 2019 Petra was appointed to the Alberta Government Minister’s Opioid Emergency Response Commission (MOERC). The commission made thirty-two recommendations to the Minister to respond to the ongoing overdose crisis.

Petra hopes that the expansion of harm reduction services in Alberta and the rest of Canada will leave a lasting legacy in memory of her son Danny.  Danny felt strongly about organ donation, now he is donating his story.

Petra is an uninvited guest in ᐊᒥᐢᑿᒌᐚᐢᑲᐦᐃᑲᐣ Amiskwacîwâskahikan (Edmonton) on Treaty 6 territory, the land, trading route and gathering place of the Cree, Saulteaux, Blackfoot, Métis, Dene and Nakota Sioux.

Danny Schulz, January 13, 1989 - April 30, 2014.

BOARDS AND COMISSIONS:

Program committee for the Canadian Centre for Substance Use and Addiction (CCSA) 2025 Issues of Substance conference from 2024 to 2025.

The Substance Use Experience Collective of the Canadian Centre for Substance Use and Addiction (CCSA) 2020 to present.

Civil Society Organizations Working Group (CSOWG) on UN Drug Policy, from 2019 to present.

Planning committee for the Canadian Drug Policy Coalition (CDPC) Stimulus Connect series from 2019 to 2024.

Health Canada People with Lived and Living Experience Advisory Committee, from 2020 to 2023.

Moms Stop The Harm Bord of Directors. 2017 to 2023, from 2017 to 2022 as vice-chair and from 2022 to 2023 as chair.

Alberta Government Minister’s Opioid Emergency Response Commission (MOERC) from June 2017 to November 2019. The commission made thirty-two recommendations to the Minister to respond to the on-going overdose crisis.

HIGHLIGHTS OF PRESENTATIONS AND CONFERENCES:

Patients Redefining the Future of Health Care in Canada, 9th annual summit. The Drug Poisoning Crisis: Changing the Narrative. Toronto, ON. November 2024.

CND - United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs. Sixty-seventh session. Vienna, Austria. Member of the official Government of Canada Delegation March 2024 .

House of Commons Standing Committee on Health (HESA). Opioid Epidemic and Toxic Drug Crisis in Canada. Ottawa, ON. April 2024. Video of testimony.

Alberta Urban Municipalities Convention, Edmonton, AB. Panelist: “Demystifying Drug Decriminalization”. November 2021.

Speaking of Health at the Royal Alexandra Hospital, Edmonton. Panelist: “The Opioid Crisis: Partnering Around a Person-Centered Approach to Care.” November 2021.

Keynote speaker for the Opioids Don't Discriminate exhibit opening in Lloydminster, AB. November 2021.

Substance User Network of the Atlantic Region (SUNAR). Panelist: “Safe Supply and Decriminalization of Drug Use”. September 2021

Canadian Public Health Association. CPHA Webinar - Involuntary Stabilization Care of Youth. September 2021.

Presentation to the federal Minister of Health Expert Task Force on Substance Use. March 2021

CAMH Opioid use disorder in primary care – virtual conference. Family members: essential partners in primary care. March 2021.

Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP) Deutschland. Webinar “From Grief to Advocacy”. March 2021

Canadian Nursing Students Association National Conference. Harm Reduction 101: Principles and Practice in Light of Canada’s Overdose Crisis. Heather Morris, Petra Schulz, Michael Lee & Lee Zorniak. January 2021

Canadian Association of Emergency Room Physicians (CAEP) National Grand Rounds. Engaging people with lived experience and their family members. January 2021.

Health Canada Public Education Partnership Symposium on Substance Use. Ottawa, March 2020. Moderated a panel of experts, including people with lived experience, academics and practitioners, on the topic  “How to Communicate Harm Reduction for Substances”.

Best Brains Exchange on Measuring Structural Stigma, Ottawa, ON, February 2020. Hosted by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) in collaboration with the Public Health Agency of Canada.  

CCSA Issues of Substance. Ottawa, ON, November, 2019. Participant in the closing plenary panel on the topic “If I Were the Minister of Health: Best Advice for Addressing Substance Use and Addiction”. Peer reviewed abstract (oral presentation) with Leslie McBain. “Supporting, Engaging and Building Capacity of Families Affected by Substance Use in Canada”

Harm Reduction International Conference, People Before Politics. Porto, Portugal, May 2019. Peer reviewed abstracts: “The Power of Peer Lead Grief Support” (Oral presentation). The Personal Impact of Mother’s Advocacy Work in Drug Policy Reform (Poster).

Women’s and Children’s Health Research Institute, University of Alberta. Edmonton, March 15, 2019. WCHRI engaging social actors in health research lunch & learn: "partnering with bereaved parent advocates and families in substance use research and drug policy reform.

Stollery Children’s Hospital Research Day, Edmonton, November, 2018. “From Grief to Advocacy – Lessons Learned from Losing Danny”

Stimulus Conference - Drugs, Policy and Practice in Canada, Edmonton, AB. October, 2018. Oral presentations (peer reviewed abstracts) “Helping Families Cope with Grief & Trauma” and “Building Capacity, Supporting, and Learning From Families Affected by Substance Use”. Co-organized and participated in panel for public satellite symposium “How Can Communities Support Families Affected by the Opioid Crisis?”

Sturgeon Hospital Nursing Professional Development Day, St. Albert, AB, October 2018. “Lesson’s learned from losing Danny”.

Alberta Health Services Board of Directors Retreat - Edmonton, AB, July 2018. “The family experience in substance use and family advocacy”

CPLPNA Conference - Shifting Reality - Edmonton AB, May, 2018. Panelist in "Strategies in a time of Crisis – Opioids and Harm Reduction"  http://www.clpnaconference.com/program/

Ministry of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, Ottawa, ON, March 2018. 2018 Law Enforcement Roundtable on Canada’s Opioid Crisis. Presentation and panelist in "Setting the Stage – the National, Regional and International Picture".  

13th Covenant Health Research Day. February, 2018, Edmonton, AB.  Oral presentation "Working towards a family-centered approach to addressing substance use". Schulz, P. Morris, H., Haines-Saah, R., Jenkins, E., May, D., & Hyshka, E. (2017).

Facilitated Community harm reduction workshop with MSTH Lorna Thomas. Kanai First Nation, Standoff, AB. November 2017.

Health Canada. Ottawa, ON, September, 2017. Presentation  and discussion to Health Portfolio Opioids Working Group.

Speaker at International Overdose Awareness Day.  Edmonton, AB on  August 31, 2015, 2016 and 2017.

John Humphrey Ignite Change Conference. Edmonton, AB, August, 2017. Plenary presentation. "Painful lessons learned from losing Danny to the opioid crisis".

Canadian Research Initiative in Substance Misuse (CRISM) | Prairies conference. Calgary, AB, June 2017. Panellist at public discussion forum. "Kids and Drugs: What parents need to know". 

MacEwan University Visiting Lecture Series: The Opioid Crisis: Challenges, Risks, and Opportunities. Edmonton, AB, February 2017. Member of session planning committee, presentation and panellist. https://www.macewan.ca/wcm/MacEwanEvents/SS_VLS_OPIOID_CRISIS_17

ALERT Fentanyl Conference for police and law enforcement. Edmonton and Calgary, AB,  October 2016.  Plenary presentation "Lessons learned from losing Danny",

Student Advocates for Public Health, Edmonton, AB. March, 2016. Presentation and panelist. 

Harm Reduction: A Family Focus, Prince Edward Island October, 2015. Member of plenary panel.

13th Alberta Harm Reduction Conference, Edmonton, June  2015.   "New Perspectives on Illegal Drugs".  Member of plenary panel.   

Documentaries, Talks and Media Reports

Scientific Publications:

Mathias, H., Auger, S., Schulz, P., & Hyshka, E. (2024). Including Families in a Response to the Unregulated Toxic Drug Crisis: A Call to Action. Substance Use & Misuse, 1–5. https://doi.org/10.1080/10826084.2024.2431042

Morris, H., Wild, C., Giovannoni, M., Haines-Saah, R., Koziel, J., Schulz, P., Bwala, H., Kunyk, D., Bubela, T., Hyshka, E. (2023). Canadian newspaper coverage on harm reduction featuring bereaved mothers: A mixed methods analysis. PLoS ONE 18(11): e0294608. [URL]

Haines-Saah, R. J., Morris, H., Schulz, P., Jenkins, E., & Hyshka, E. (2023). Engaging families and parent advocates in research on substance use and drug policy reform: Guiding principles from a Canadian community-academic partnership. Drug and Alcohol Review. [URL]

Morris, H., Schulz, P., Jenkins, E., Haines-Saah, R. J., & Hyshka, E. (2021). “I'm not your reality show:” Perspectives of bereaved mothers' engagement with the news media to advance drug policy reform. SSM - Qualitative Research in Health, 1, 100011. [DOI URL] [PDF] 

Morris, H., Hyshka, E., Schulz, P., Jenkins, E., & Haines-Saah, R. J. (2021). “It’s a Bit of a Double-Edged Sword”: Motivation and Personal Impact of Bereaved Mothers’ Advocacy for Drug Policy Reform. Qualitative Health Research, 31(10), 1812-1822. [DOI URL] [PDF]