‘We have to get rid of the stigma — dead people can’t ask for help’: During keynote address at the Memorial Wall on Saturday, Connie Raynor-Elliott asked residents to refrain from posting pictures of people living with addiction
Connie Raynor-Elliott is fed up with how some residents use social media in Sault Ste. Marie, particularly those who upload photos of locals struggling with substance use disorder and homelessness.
Raynor-Elliott has felt disheartened by the divide she senses has worsened on issues surrounding addiction, and she took the opportunity this afternoon to call on Saultites to show a little more compassion. As SooToday reported last month, data released by the Office of the Chief Coroner showed that Sault Ste. Marie had the highest opioid-related death rate in Ontario during the first three months of this year.
“We have a lot of people on this wall, and this is only a third of the people that we’ve lost,” she said. “We started moving names to the other side. I really want to shut it down, but we can’t until we get the services that we need.” But for the addictions and mental health agencies that do exist in town, Raynor-Elliott took the opportunity on Overdose Awareness Day to express her appreciation for their work.
Shoemaker lobbied hard for a supervised consumption site to be built in the city and made it a key part of his election platform.
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