EDMONTON -- Alberta's opposition parties say the government is losing the battle against opioids like fentanyl and must declare a public health emergency.
Members of all four opposition parties say the declaration would free up resources and coordinate the work of the multiple agencies involved.
But Associate Health Minister Brandy Payne says calling a public health emergency won't help.
She says the province already has the authority to make the necessary administrative changes to fight the rise in opioid addictions.
And she says the province is negotiating with the federal government for a share of the $65 million recently announced to help provinces to fight the drug -- a painkiller for terminally ill cancer patients and 100 times more powerful than heroin.
The province says 343 people died from apparent fentanyl overdoses last year -- a 25 per cent increase from 257 deaths in 2015.
Calgary Police Chief Roger Chaffin has said the number of deaths from opioid-related overdoses doesn't come close to those from homicides or traffic fatalities.
He has said too much energy has been wasted arguing whether to call a public health emergency rather than coming up with a broader strategy to fight what he has called a crisis.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was in Vancouver last week to discuss the issue and called it a crisis across Canada. The illicit drug overdose crisis claimed 922 lives in British Columbia last year.
