‘Enormously complex’ file in store for new minister Saks, say addictions specialists, as calls grow for more funding to address ‘overdose crisis’

'Until we start taking this seriously and we actually see some political will to do something about this, we’re going to continue to see it getting worse,' says University of Calgary clinical assistant professor Robert Tanguay.

First elected in York Centre, Ont., in 2020, Ya’ara Saks previously served as parliamentary secretary to the families minister before her appointment as addictions and mental health minister in July's cabinet shuffle. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade

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BY MIKE LAPOINTE

August 28, 2023

Following an uptick in overdoses that have led to more than 36,000 opioid toxicity deaths between January 2016 and December 2022, addictions specialist Paxton Bach says he “can’t imagine a more challenging portfolio to inherit” for new Mental Health and Addictions Mini...

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