Euan Thomson

@drugdatadecoded.ca

6463 Followers 2263 Following

Investigations on Alberta’s drug war revival: www.drugdatadecoded.ca ✍️ APTN, Alberta Views, The Breach, The Tyee PhD Microbiology Banner: Access to information in Alberta Icon: Headshot of me in blue t-shirt

Side profile of the most adorable little baby bird seen through a chain-link fence, with muted blue and grey colours of a blue Jay and the beginnings of its adult crest on its head, and a white belly. It’s sitting in grass and looking inquisitive.
Album launch concert poster with blue twine strung around photos of musicians on a clean white background. Fiver and the Fiver Trois with special guests Koromanti and the North Star, Friday July 17 at Sanctuary Arts Centre, 100 Ochterloney St Dartmouth. Presented by Nowadays Festival.
Completely blackened out piece of paper with the numbers 475(1)(a) and 475(1)(c) at the top-left corner, indicating sections of the municipal freedom of information act concerning "harm to law enforcement" and "harm to investigative techniques used in law enforcement."
Results During the study period 827 patients underwent CPR, 385 patients initially survived, 162 (20%) survived to discharge, of whom 5 were in a vegetative state. Of the 51 patients who died after discharge, 29 died in the first 6 months (Figure 1). Of 5 patients who were in a vegetative state at discharge, 4 died within 3 months. Ten patients were lost to follow-up. Death after discharge was significantly associated with age 70 years or older (P =.05) and dependency in daily life before CPR (P =.05).
Map showing a portion of Northwest territories, around Fort Simpson, which is shown in the top right of the map near a river. The wildfire covers about 2/3 of the image and is shown with a red line that sweeps across from the top left to the bottom right of the map.
Alberta health services ordered to hand over documents to authorities, senior executive confirms. June 16, 2026. Podcasters harassed former AHS CEO to dissuade her from suing Smith government, Judge rules. May 29, 2026. Judge rules search of devices belonging to podcasts involved in AHS controversy was justified. May 22, 2026.
Architecture of repression In proscribing Palestine Action, Keir Starmer’s Labour government has brought out of the shadows a legal architecture of repression — mostly squirreled away in recent amendments to counter-terrorism laws — that seems to have been prepared for just such a moment as this. The police and courts appear only too willing to conspire in vaguely worded legal formulations, creating a dragnet in which the government can ensnare as a terrorist anyone who challenges the legitimacy or legality of its foreign policy. That has been most obvious in the now routine sight of police officers hauling away thousands of British citizens — many of them retired lawyers, doctors, vicars, and army veterans — for the crime of holding up a placard that reads: “I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action.” Under Britain’s draconian Terrorism Act, anyone expressing an opinion, even inadvertently, that might “encourage support” for a proscribed organization can be arrested and potentially faces a jail term of up to 14 years.
Facing relentless requests from international media and growing skepticism around their claims, the community initiated an informal media blackout, leaving the narrative around the site to conjecture. But behind the wall of silence, they were following federal guidance, conducting new searches and laying out a detailed plan to dig the site by 2027 – all on their own terms and timeline. And regardless of what they find, the fact remains that more than 3,500 children are named on the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation‘s registry of students who died as a result of the residential school system, which operated in Canada for more than 160 years.
Dear Euan Thomson: Re: Access to Information Request: MHA_2026-G-0048 On April 27, 2026, Mental Health and Addiction received your request under the Access to Information Act (the Act) for the following: 1. The latest draft of Alberta's Integrated Health System Plan held by Elizabeth Wilcox or the Minister's office, whichever is most recent. 2. Table created by the Ministry with feedback on the Integrated Health Services Plan and referenced in a January 29, 2025 email from Elizabeth Wilcox to Sara Tomlinson and Wendy Birch, subject line "Integrated Health System Plan - for Recovery Alberta Input. Eliminate: "dup-recs", "drafts", "dup-emails" Date Range: January 1, 2025 to April 27, 2026 Mental Health and Addiction has decided to provide partial access to the records you requested. The records contain some information that has been withheld from disclosure in accordance with the following section of the Act: • 29(1)(Advice from officials) You may ask for a review under Part 3 of the Act by the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner (OIPC) of the decision. To request a review, you must submit a completed Request for Review form within 60 business days from the date of this letter to the OIPC at Suite 410, 9925 – 109 Street, Edmonton, Alberta, T5K 2J8. The form is available under ‘Resources’ on the OIPC’s website, www.oipc.ab.ca, or you can call 1- 888-878-4044 to request a copy. Under section 59(1) you must also notify the director of the Mental Health and Addiction Access to Information Office at PPHS.ATIOffice@gov.ab.ca if you wish to request a review.
Law Enforcement Review Board – June 2026 hearing May 22, 2026 The Law Enforcement Review Board will hear final arguments on the following appeal: The appeal hearing will be conducted online, using Microsoft Teams. To observe a hearing, contact the board office for further information. Calgary appeal: June 3, 2026 (9:30 a.m.) • Annette Lengyel is appealing the decision of Chief Katie McLellan to dismiss her complaint against an officer for his conduct during a protest at the University of Calgary. The Law Enforcement Review Board, an independent body established under the Police Act in 1973, reviews public complaints about police officer conduct and appeals from police officers on disciplinary action.
Text Message: Having trouble finding when the shelters were set up in the first place, can you point me to a new source or any documentation just showing like when the contract was issued to OTC by the government. I’m trying to link it to the August 2021 encampment violence. Next message: As… Leave it wiggles leave it good dog good dog good boy yeah that’s a good boy. That’s a good boy. Yeah, in, the government was…”
A brown-skinned man with a great mane of black hair and a beard gives, wearing a blue collared shirt and white pants gives air quotes around “The Recovery Model” while discussing a news article by Cindy Tran titled Two Alberta supervised consumption sites shut down in 2025 with plans to close Calgary’s in the new year.
Passage from the book, Thin Blue Rage: While many other cultural traits might be attached to policing, our contention is that policing studies have articulated six basic attributes that we assert are fundamental elements of the police movement: mission orientation and the “police calling”; police truths and a monopoly over crime knowledge; isolation/solidarity; hegemonic subjectivities and systemic oppression; police fragility and the impacts of policing collective victimization complex; and the dominant conservatism within policing.
The front cover of A book called Thin Blue Rage: The Police Countermovement by Andrew Crosby and Jeffrey Monaghan. It’s an evil-looking impressionistic illustration of angry, almost zombie-like police officers in a line facing the viewer
Toronto police said they are not identifying the officers as Spanish court proceedings are ongoing. However, sources confirmed to CTV News and CP24 that the officers involved are Constables Evan Glennie, Rich Rand and Caglar Yigit.
List of donors giving amounts ranging from $25 yo $200
Someone named Donald saying only the word “Deport” while posting the Calgary Sun article titled “Activists sue U of C, Calgary police and city…” with a photo of several people including someone in a keffiyeh facing a row of riot police
Four headlines that show overdoses spiking in Saskatoon, Red Deer, Hamilton and Toronto after the closure of supervised consumption sites.
Privacy commissioner of alberta: “What happened here is very serious,” added McLeod. “More than 2.9 million Albertans have had their personal information breached. For some of these individuals there is likely a real risk of significant harm given that their home address and phone numbers have been made public. This could be especially harmful for certain individuals. Some examples might be those who work for law enforcement, who are public officials, who are fleeing intimate partner violence and other vulnerable individuals. This incident demonstrates that it is high time for political parties to be made subject to PIPA.”
Poster that says "Supervised Consumption Site Closures: Creating Chaos to Justify Coercion." with Mark Brave Rock and Euan Thomson, May 12, 2026, Galt Museum and Archives, 501 1 St S, Lethbridge, AB. Doors open at 5:30PM, opening prayer at 6PM. Everyone welcome. Please contact Miranda Leibel for additional information: miranda.leibel@uleth.ca
Text message: I know exactly who told me. What I was told was that turning point had broken terms of the grant application in acting/allowing/ operating(?) as a "deafacto injection site". That was the basis for the decision to withdraw funding
Nothing was found by the SCAN operation, except for "activities... occurring on or near [Turning Point's] property." In her September 25 letter notifying Turning Point it was being defunded, Minister of Primary and Preventative Health Services Adriana LaGrange conspicuously omitted the organization's alleged misdeeds and instead pointed to a need for "broader health system refocusing." Two surprise site inspections were also conducted by Alberta Health Services or the Ministry of Health, along with a fire code inspection, each of which failed to uncover operational wrongdoing by Turning Point. According to Corrigal, none of the agencies responsible for these investigations produced reports for Turning Point. "I don't understand how processes like this would occur without reporting and documentation," she says.
Between the late 19th century and the 1990s, more than 150,000 Indigenous children were forced to attend Christian residential schools that sought to “eliminate” First Nations people as a distinct group.
Liane Medwick grew up in Meadowlark Park and moved back to the neighbourhood in 2003. She says it’s important to have a presence in the community. “Because the one thing that the criminals do not want is for us to have eyes on them and call the police. The more that we call the police, the more police presence we get in the community.” Calgary Police Supt. Scott Boyd says more calls from a particular area does have an influence on where policing happens.
“Even as we’re working to address these issues, more and more things are happening,” said Neufeld. “And I get that it really seems like a lot. At times like this, it’s understandable that people begin to feel unsafe and anxious and ask questions about what in the world is going on.”
Five stories in a row that appear to create alarm about the influx of immigrants, in one case the headline describing immigration as “out of control” and in another framing immigration as “competition.”
Three stories, all about social disorder, including one that is a survey asking for people’s experiences
5 most common types of disorder The disorder index includes calls to Calgary police regarding incidents that can have negative impacts on people, particularly in public places, but don't tend to be represented well in traditional crime statistics. A bar chart show that unwanted guest is the most common category of social disturbance. Unwanted guest 132,496 Suspicious person 96,350 Disturbance 74,533 Suspicious vehicle 39,876 Mental health concern 28,357 Source: Calgary Police Service (CBC)
'A bit disturbing': Here’s what social disorder in downtown Calgary looks like today A walk through downtown shows open drug use, tent encampments, litter and unpredictable people are rampant Elizabeth Withey · CBC News · Posted: Apr 09, 2026 8:00 AM ADT | Last Updated: 30 minutes ago
Out one door and in another This is what social disorder in Calgary often looks like. This man isn’t causing any trouble right now, Thorpe said, but his behaviour is unusual and unpredictable — loitering in an alley, pacing around, talking to himself. And he’s not dressed for the weather, so someone is bound to call police, either because they’re worried about his welfare, worried for their own safety, or both.
Black dog with brown eyes looking up from a backyard deck. The dog is wearing a holiday wreath that has turned brown. The dog looks slightly alert but you can see his tail is wagging.
Nurses have told leadership that the volume of people in waiting rooms have made them feel increasingly unsafe, the staffer said, adding that health professionals can’t remove potentially dangerous patients due to their duty of care.
Kevin O'Leary, Danielle Smith and Jordan Peterson pose for a photo at Mar-a-Lago in January 2025
The benchmark was partly achieved by an internal reorganization of the federal government, which has seen some agencies, such as the Canadian Coast Guard, moved under the auspices of the Defence Department and therefore counted toward the NATO target. It was also achieved through a substantial pay raise for members of the military and by pouring money into base infrastructure and overhaul.
Table showing updates to deaths that generally run from 20 to 30% above the initial reports by the government. These are total drug toxicity deaths in Alberta.
Year-over-year opioid overdose deaths in Alberta drop by 55%, latest numbers show Province to launch mental health and addiction services agency in September Omar Sherif · CBC News · Posted: Aug 31, 2024 8:00 AM ADT | Last Updated: August 31, 2024
DECLARATION OF INTERESTS Several co-authors are affiliated with the Canadian Centre of Recovery Excellence (CoRE), which receives public funding from the Government of Alberta. The Government of Alberta did not have any role in the study design, data analysis, interpretation of results, manuscript preparation or the decision to submit this work for publication. The funder did not exercise editorial oversight, did not review manuscript drafts for approval and did not have any right of refusal regarding publication. All analyses, interpretations and conclusions are those of the authors alone
While the study reported last year's closure of Red Deer's only overdose prevention site didn't lead to more overdose deaths, emergency department visits or ambulance calls among former site users, it's been criticized for its scope and for potential conflicts of interest. Elaine Hyshka, an associate professor at the University of Alberta’s School of Public Health, said the six-month period the study used to analyze data related to the Red Deer site wasn’t long enough to definitively back up a policy decision to close the site.
Police search offices of Sam Mraiche-owned firm as part of Alberta procurement probe
Calgary doctor on consumption site review panel says he's sorry it fuelled fears around sites' future Dr. Robert Tanguay says the sites should evolve, not be shut down Colleen Underwood · CBC News · Posted: Mar 12, 2020 8:00 AM ADT | Last Updated: March 12, 2020
Alberta, Ontario, Sask. announce partnership to create recovery-focused addictions treatment Critics denounce Alberta government's refusal of safe supply Brendan Coulter · CBC News ·
Mr Mraiche has always maintained that he acted appropriately
Email :Dear Ministry of MHA, Recovery Alberta, and CoRE personnel: (Ms. Kaufmann - please loop in Dr. Shelly Vik as some questions pertain to her.) I have been reviewing internal conversations between the Ministry and Recovery Alberta officials concerning supervised consumption sites closures by the Province. I am copying several Alberta media outlets on this email for transparency. A few questions, if you can please respond to questions 1-6 by 5PM this Wednesday (Feb 18) and to #7-18 by next Monday (Feb 23): Section 1. PLEASE REPLY BY 5PM FEBRUARY 18: Was the Recovery Alberta report "Mortality among supervised consumption site clients" shared with the Ministry by Recovery Alberta? If so, when? What data concerning Red Deer OPS usage were shared with the Red Deer City Council in advance of its February 2024 vote on the fate of the OPS? (If there is a presentation, summary document or meeting minutes, please consider providing those.) Were data from the Recovery Alberta “Retrospective Cohort Study,” such as OAT initiation and retention data of SCS clients, included in decision-making around the site closure? Have data from the Recovery Alberta “Retrospective Cohort Study” been shared in court proceedings concerning Aaron Brown's injunction to keep Red Deer OPS open? Did the 2024 Ministerial Order to bill out-of-province clients for supervised consumption site access cause people to lose access to the sites, even temporarily? Are any known to have died of drug poisoning during that period? What date was the exemption to the same 2024 Ministerial Order implemented for supervised consumption sites? Section 2. PLEASE REPLY BY 5PM FEBRUARY 23: (Related to #2) In February 2024, as Red Deer city council was preparing to vote on the proposed overdose prevention site, Recovery Alberta was sending inaccurate data around adverse events at the OPS to the Ministry, according to emails from the OPS management. Were these data corrected for the Ministry? If so, when?
Action request: supervised consumption site clients and mortality. Data: february 21, 2024, due date: february 22, 2024. Requested by Ministry of mental health and addiction. Prepared by Alberta health services provincial addiction and mental health. Authors of the document reveal that of 211 deaths tracked by the study, 13 of them had a date of death that preceded the most recent visit to a supervised consumption site, and these were "removed from the analysis."
Action request: supervised consumption site clients and mortality. Data: february 21, 2024, due date: february 22, 2024. Requested by Ministry of mental health and addiction. Prepared by Alberta health services provincial addiction and mental health. Authors of the document reveal that of 211 deaths tracked by the study, 13 of them had a date of death that preceded the most recent visit to a supervised consumption site, and these were "removed from the analysis."
The accepted wisdom of the legality of the attacks on Iran is straightforward: they are illegal, full stop. The United Nations Security Council did not authorize the military action (nor was it asked). Neither Israel nor the United States are responding in self-defence, and even fall short of the restrictive standard for preemptive action, that of imminent threat of attack. So, the air campaign against Iran breaks international law, and nothing more need to be considered. The reality that Russia would veto any move against its ally in its war of aggression against Ukraine is irrelevant. The stated intent of Iran to wipe Israel off the map is irrelevant. Mr. Cotler rejects that view (as do we) as far too narrow. A broader perspective – one that takes into account the decades that Iran has spent fomenting war in the Middle East, terrorism across the globe and terror at home – leads to a very different conclusion, namely that it would be unjust and immoral to allow the Islamic Republic to use the letter of international law as a shield.
green and blue painted boat with wheels driving up a ramp out of the Halifax harbour. A giant container ship is visible in the background, without wheels
Dr. Monty Ghosh, an addiction specialist, said the study was well done, and it's important to note there was more support for site users. "One of the things that they did involve during the transition period was this rapid response team, so that did consist of two clinicians who were going around the site, responding to overdoses on a regular basis, they were there 24/7," Ghosh said. Ghosh does warn that just because this study is out there, it shouldn't be a reason to shut down other supervised consumption sites.
Derek Finkle: This injection site was shut down. What followed proved activists wrong New study about closure of Alberta site shows there was no increase in overdose deaths Author of the article:By Derek Finkle Published Mar 11, 2026 Last updated 11 hours ago 6 minute read
Funding information This research did not receive a specific project-based grant. The Canadian Centre of Recovery Excellence (CoRE), with which several authors are affiliated, receives public funding from the Government of Alberta. The funder had no role in the study design, data analysis, interpretation of results, manuscript preparation or the decision to submit this work for publication.
Total fatalities pending investigation by Alberta's medical examiner are at 3,244, with most remaining from 2022, 2023 and 2024.
Graph showing the number of deaths pending investigation from 2019 to 2024. In total, there were 3,244 deaths pending investigation as of January 2026 – without counting 2025. 2023 and 2024 contained the highest numbers at around 1,200 each.
Ghost town, brainless, dirt Orchestra, Friday sixth of March at Gus’ pub. An illustration of a ghost wearing some sort of onesie carrying a sack full of stolen goods including a crown and a bible over its right shoulder, while stepping daintily and looking somewhat smugly toward the viewer. The ghost and sack white as are the lettering, and the background is all black.
Graph showing fatalities in Edmonton from 2017 to 2025. Graph shows that deaths hit a peak of around 650 or more deaths from 2021 onward without abatement. 2025 is on track to hit a new record once all data are complete and updated.
Grayscale cross-section of an ant’s thorax-abdomen connection showing a faint line that is assumed to be the gut running into the abdomen. The abdomen is huge and bulbous in comparison to the joint portion.
Other one-time cheerleaders for the Iraq war have voiced regret and, occasionally, shame. In a 2018 book, Max Boot, an analyst who was once deeply ensconced in the world of neocon foreign policy, wrote, “I can finally acknowledge the obvious: It was all a big mistake. Saddam Hussein was heinous, but Iraq was better off under his tyrannical rule than the chaos that followed. I regret advocating the invasion and feel guilty about all the lives lost.” Three years earlier, New York Times columnist David Brooks, who had been a loud (and naive) beater of the war drums in 2003, opined, “[T]he decision to go to war was a clear misjudgment.” Last week, in the Atlantic, David Frum, the pro-war speechwriter for Bush who coined the “Axis of Evil” phrase that justified targeting Iraq (and North Korea and Iran), noted the decision to invade was “plainly” unwise and that the war was a “misadventure.”
Photo of a bombed out pile of rubble, surrounded by people and cranes. a caption reads “people recover victims following an Israeli strike on a school in Minab, Iran, according to state-run Mehr News Agency.”
York Regional Police say they are aware of a large, pre-planned demonstration this afternoon in Richmond Hill, north of Toronto, and told commuters to expect delays. Officers are also planning to establish a greater presence in local neighbourhoods. “These patrols are proactive and are intended to deter any potential criminal or hate-motivated activity prompted by events overseas,” reads the department’s release, which also says officers have been deployed near faith institutions, community centres, schools and other public areas. Luca Caruso-Moro, CTVNews.ca journalist
CBC Reporter Raffy Boudjikanian Implies Israel Defending Itself Against Terrorist Groups Is Somehow Scandalous By HonestReporting Canada February 27, 2026 Photo of reporter staring into the camera with Action Alert underneath, calling for a campaign to likely try and have CBC reporting retracted