Tamara Taillieu, Winnipeg, MB

My name is Tamara (Tammy) Taillieu.  I have been a member of the recovery community for the past 20 years.  In 1996, I decided that I needed help and went through detox before entering an in-house treatment facility. I was fortunate at the time because I had a very supportive family physician, almost immediate access to treatment, and was using substances prior to the onset of the toxic street drug supply that we are seeing today.

On November 4, 2018, we lost my 22-year-old niece, Destiny, to accidental fentanyl poisoning.  Destiny died 2 weeks after completing detox, and 6 weeks before her bed date at a treatment facility.  Destiny did not want to die.  She was full of life and love, and now she is gone.  Destiny’s death was preventable.

This loss made it very clear to me that we need to advocate for change in our mental health and addictions systems of care, systems that are too often failing our loved ones.  This also includes advocating for the integration of harm reduction principles and practices into our systems of care.  Meeting people where they are at, with caring and non-judgmental care, would save lives.  Access to a safe supply, decriminalization, and investment in supervised consumption sites would also save lives.  However, until we start viewing substance use as a public health issue rather than as a moral failing, people will continue to die at these unprecedented rates.  We need to act today so that people do not die tomorrow.

To honour Destiny’s memory, I will continue to advocate for change, both personally and professionally.  I am also a full-time Instructor in the Department of Community of Health Sciences at the University of Manitoba.  My teaching and research interests largely focus on the impact of trauma on physical and mental health (including substance use) across the lifespan.  In that capacity, I hope to also contribute to the growing body of research on evidence-based harm reduction policy and practice.  I also wish to acknowledge that I live and work on the original lands of the Annishaabeg, Cree, Dakota, and Dene Peoples, and on the homeland of the Métis Nation.

Finally, I am very grateful and honoured to be a member of both Overdose Awareness Manitoba (OAM) and Mom’s Stop the Harm (MSTH) for the support that I have received and their continued efforts to ensure that our loved ones are remembered, and their voices are heard.