2 die on Victoria streets little more than an hour apart as Island Health issues drug toxicity warning

Emily Fagan · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 11, 2025 9:02 PM EDT | Last Updated: 11 minutes ago

Two radical died a small implicit an hour apart in Victoria connected Monday, Victoria constabulary and the B.C. Coroners Service person confirmed. 

An outreach idiosyncratic says the city's enforcement of anti-sheltering bylaws has made it much hard for enactment workers to assistance those struggling connected downtown streets and blames their deaths connected cause overdoses.

The B.C. Coroners Service says a man besides died successful downtown Victoria connected March 8 and that the origin of each 3 deaths is inactive nether investigation. 

On Tuesday, Island Health issued an advisory of an accrued hazard to those utilizing unregulated substances connected the South Island, as "drug poisonings are expanding successful Greater Victoria."

Karen Mills, laminitis of Peer 2 Peer Indigenous Society, says she's ne'er seen truthful galore deaths wrong the section thoroughfare assemblage arsenic she has since Victoria bylaw enforcement began cracking down connected those sheltering connected Pandora Avenue past summer. It came successful the aftermath of a antheral experiencing a seizure allegedly attacking a paramedic who was caring for him.

"Working down connected the beforehand lines, it's precise frustrating erstwhile folks get displaced," said Mills, who knew the 2 radical who fatally overdosed personally done her thoroughfare outreach work. 

"It's worrisome we don't cognize wherever they are, and this is however we recovered retired wherever our clients were due to the fact that they were deceased."

Mills isn't the lone 1 acrophobic astir the toll these enforcement efforts, besides called "street sweeps," are taking connected those surviving unhoused and with addictions successful Victoria.

Correne Antrobus, the B.C. pb for Holding Hope, a enactment radical for loved ones of those mislaid to the toxic cause crisis, says these sweeps exacerbate the toxic cause situation by pushing much radical to usage substances unsocial — resulting successful much fatal outcomes. She said a akin clump of deaths occurred successful November.

"The sweeps aren't helping. They're conscionable pushing radical further away, and they're dying," she said, a interest she's raised with the City of Victoria.

Colleen Mycroft, manager of media relations for the City of Victoria, did not remark straight connected the deaths erstwhile asked by the CBC.

In a statement, she wrote that bylaw officers enforce overnight sheltering rules regular and that bylaw unit support "excellent" relationships with section health, housing, and outreach organizations to link unhoused radical with services.

She said impounding the spot of radical sheltering connected the thoroughfare is simply a "last resort" if radical bash not comply repeatedly with officers.

"Staff admit that each idiosyncratic is simply a unsocial idiosyncratic and consequently unit bash not behaviour 'sweeps' oregon dainty everyone successful the nonstop aforesaid manner," wrote Mycroft.

The B.C. Coroners Service and the Victoria Police Department provided details connected each of the 3 caller deaths, though nary would remark connected the origin of decease astatine this stage.

Amber Schinkel, media relations manager for the B.C. Coroners Service, said that coroners volition analyse and find the origin and circumstances of death.

"Because each are unfastened investigations, and successful rather aboriginal stages of investigation, I can't statesman to speculate connected the origin oregon corroborate if they are connected to unregulated cause toxicity," she wrote successful a statement.

Memorial work to beryllium held

The archetypal death, connected the greeting of March 8, came aft VicPD officers and archetypal responders responded to reports of a antheral successful aesculapian distress successful the 600-block of Johnson Street.

In spite of life-saving measures, VicPD spokesperson Gemma Stroobant said the antheral "succumbed to their situation." 

Just aft 8 a.m. connected March 10, constabulary responded to a abrupt decease connected the 700-block of Johnson Street, wherever they recovered a idiosyncratic who had died.

That aforesaid greeting astatine 9:15, officers recovered 1 idiosyncratic dormant astatine the 2900-block of Douglas Street.

The VicPD were besides called to respond to a man who had been recovered unconscious and was not breathing on the 900-block of Pandora Avenue soon aft 8:15 am, in what was believed to beryllium a suspected overdose. The B.C. Coroner's Service primitively confirmed that this antheral had died, but a time aboriginal took backmost their statements to the CBC and reported that the antheral had, successful fact, not died that day. His destiny remains unclear.

Foul play is not suspected successful immoderate of these deaths, constabulary say.

The B.C. Coroners Service and the VicPD declined to accidental whether this fig of deaths by radical recovered connected the thoroughfare was unusual. Victoria police would lone accidental that they bash not way this information.

Mills says that outreach workers mean to clasp a memorial work for the radical who died connected the greenish parkland abstraction on Pandora Avenue erstwhile the upwind improves, on with a ceremonial for those who were Indigenous.

She says she's been frustrated with the online effect to their passing, which has included hateful and stigmatizing comments astir radical struggling with homelessness and addictions. 

"These are unnecessary deaths, and they're heartbreaking," she said. "Every azygous idiosyncratic that has died precocious has had potential."