(File Photo/larongeNOW Staff)

By Susan McNeil

Legal Action

Opioid addictions & deaths prompt North Sask. bands lawsuit against government

Oct 13, 2023 | 6:00 AM

Lack of access to the support needed to combat the opioid crisis has prompted the Lac La Ronge Indian Band and Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation bands to file a class action lawsuit against the government of Canada.

Two provisions of Treaty 6 mandate the government to provide support and medical care in times of pestilence and to provide a ‘medicine chest.’

“Our communities have suffered devastating losses due to the opioid epidemic. This lawsuit is a crucial step towards addressing the harm caused and ensuring a brighter future for our people,” said Chief Tammy Cook-Searson of the Lac La Ronge Indian Band.

The two bands want the federal government to help create an abatement plan that would cover emergency help, treatment programs, family and social services, community outreach, addiction support, and use of traditional Indigenous healing practices.

They also claim the Government of Canada is getting a portion of the dispersal of Purdue Canada’s assets which stops the First Nations from collecting on their own claims against the now-defunct drug company.

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Purdue is the company that created and marketed OxyContin, marketing directly to doctors and other health professionals, claiming that the opioid was less addictive and safer than it is.

The Sackler family that ran Purdue has agreed in the US to pay $4.5 billion over nine years, mostly for addiction treatment. Purdue Pharma was dissolved over a year ago.

In December 2023, the US Supreme Court will hear oral arguments as to whether the Sacklers are personally liable for the epidemic.

In Canada, Oxycontin was also pushed by Purdue as a way to accelerate revenue for the company.

Purdue is going through bankruptcy in the US and their Canadian company was pledged to help fund the US plan.

According to a news release issued by LLRIB and PBCN, First Nations and municipalities in Canada are opposing the US plan and both parties say they will lose out on Canada’s compromise with the Sacklers and Purdue with unresolved lawsuits still on the books.

“We stand united in our pursuit of justice and respect for our Treaty rights. It is essential that the Government of Canada fulfills its commitments to our communities, ensuring our people’s health and safety,” said Chief Karen Bird of PBCN.

The lawsuit was filed in Prince Albert Court of King’s Bench on Oct. 6.

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susan.mcneil@pattisonmedia.com