The Saskatchewan’s Coroners Service is reporting 224 suspected and confirmed drug toxicity deaths in the first 244 days of 2025.

The NDP Shadow Minister for Mental Health & Addictions points out that is almost a death a day. Betty Nippi-Albright also notes that those are just the ones officials are aware of.

She suggests that the provincial government should have called a State of Emergency after the Saskatoon Fire Department responded to 84 overdoses between August 17 and 26.

Nippi-Albright describes Premier Scott Moe’s response as “slow, ineffective, and dangerously disconnected from reality on the ground.” She says residents don’t feel safe in Saskatoon’s downtown core and crime rates have skyrocketed.

According to the latest statistics released by the Saskatchewan Coroner’s office January to August point in time confirmed and suspected drug toxicity death, year to date, is a 14 per cent decrease from last year in the same time frame.

And this August compared to August 2024 recorded a 36 per cent decrease