The mayor of Kamloops says he and 12 other mayors in the province met with the Mental Health and Addictions Minister earlier this week.

Ken Christian says the Urban Mayors Caucus is continuing to lobby Sheila Malcolmson for improvements to complex care.

“I did have the opportunity to speak with her about some concerns we have uniquely in Kamloops,” he told NL News. “Specifically, the lack of a sobering centre here and enhancements to the Car 40 program.”

In the first three months of 2021, twelve Kamloops residents had died of an overdose. Across B.C., a record 498 people died of that cause, an 85 per cent increase from the 268 deaths in the first three months of 2020.

“Its suffice to say, the opioid crisis is raging on and we need to put our collective efforts into stopping it,” Christian said, noting the pandemic has made things worse.

“That is related to the source of the drug supply in Kamloops. You know a lot of that had been coming from overseas – Asia and the United States. Now a lot of it is manufactured in B.C. and its not manufactured very well.”

“This is a problem of our sons and daughters, tradespeople, professionals. this is a problem that can unfortunately affect anyone that is affected by opioid addictions,” Christian added.

The BC Coroners Service says 80 per cent of the people who died of an overdose were men, while 69 per cent of the people who died were between the age of 30 and 59.

For the latest data go here.