Nanaimo Area Network of Drug Users - NANDU

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IOAD Nanaimo

Aug 21, 2024 NANAIMO — A local man has pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the death of a woman three years ago.
Kyle Gordon Ordway, 39, formally entered a guilty plea to manslaughter in B.C. Supreme Court in Nanaimo on Wed, Aug 21 in connection to the death of his former girlfriend Amy Watts.
A joint submission agreed to by Crown Counsel and the defence called for four years behind bars for Ordway, which would equate to an additional 780 days minus the 440 actual days he’s already been behind bars.
Sentencing is expected to be completed with Justice Jennifer Power on Thurs, Aug 22.
Crown prosecutor Basil McCormick led the Court through the agreed-upon statement of facts in the case, saying Watts died in the late evening of May 8, 2021, almost a month before her body was discovered.
During a previous trial, witness testimony said Ordway was angry at Watts at the time for supposedly stealing money and drugs from him. On May 6, Watts and Ordway were seen arguing outside of the Port Place Shopping Centre.
Police attended the scene, where Watts was arrested on an unrelated outstanding warrant and later released.
Watts then had a phone conversation with her father the following day, which was the last time she was heard from. She reportedly told her father she had just been released from the hospital, had nowhere to go, and was in need of medication.
She was reported missing by her mother on May 27, 2021, which launched a police investigation.
Ordway first became a person of interest in her disappearance when a man reached out to the Nanaimo RCMP on June 1, 2021, saying his girlfriend had information on Watts’ disappearance.
McCormick said the girlfriend, Jennifer Dietrich, a friend of Ordway who helped distribute drugs for him, spoke to police on June 3, saying Ordway had stopped by her place in the early morning hours the night of Watts’ death.
“Around 2:30 AM on May 8, 2021, telling her – quote – ‘she’s dead, she’s dead.’ When she (Dietrich) asked who, Ordway responded – quote- ‘Amy’. He told Dietrich Watts fell off the cliff earlier that evening after they had been fighting all day, and that Watts was dead. He told her that he heard glass break when she fell, and she screamed.”
Dietrich said Ordway was emotionally upset and crying at the time, and his clothing was wet and he wasn’t wearing shoes.
In the days following, further witnesses came forward linking Ordway with Watts’ death.
Another witness, who also assisted Ordway with his drug deliveries, met him in May of 2021 to give him a ride. She described Ordway as being upset when they met.
“He told her that Amy was dead and they had been fighting and that he pushed her off, but didn’t realize there was no railing where she fell,” said McCormick.
McCormick said the majority of the civilian witnesses can be characterized as “marginalized persons with substance abuse addictions”, with their connection to Ordway through the drug subculture in Nanaimo.
A number of potential witnesses interviewed by police prior to the preliminary hearing held in Dec 2023, have since died of drug overdoses.
An autopsy found Watts’ suffered “extensive head injuries as a result of blunt force trauma, which could be consistent with a fall from a significant height.
An exact cause of death could not be determined due to the length of time which had passed between her death and her body being discovered, approximately 34 days.
Watts’ mother Janice Coady read an emotional victim impact statement in court, detailing her “emotionally crippling journey” since the death of her only child.
“I’ll never be able to hold her again, hear her voice, see her sweet smile, listen to her jokes, have movie nights, and share moments in time with her. There’s not a moment my heart doesn’t hurt from the loss of my Amy. Knowing Amy was taken from this life so brutally, and so inhumanely, with no chance to tell her truth and her story, what was truly done to her, is devastating to me.”
The body of Watts, 27, was found in the area of Albert St. and Victoria Cres. near City Hall in a steep wooded ravine on June 3, 2021.
Watts’ death came just a few months after Ordway and Watts joined forces to assault a female drug addict at a Wakesiah Ave townhouse unit in Feb 2021.
He was found guilty by a jury, while the jury couldn’t find a consensus on two other charges against Ordway, which were eventually abandoned by the Crown.
The trial, which resulted in an 18-month jail sentence against Ordway for assault causing bodily harm, heard Ordway brought Watts directly from a Lower Mainland drug treatment facility to the troubled home where attacks against the victim quickly ensued.
Ordway was charged with manslaughter a year and a half after Watts’ body was discovered.
He’s been in custody since June 2022 when he was arrested and charged in connection to the violence that ensued at the Wakesiah Ave townhouse.
Ordway has an extensive criminal record primarily involving property crimes which are heavily linked to drug addiction.

For people who have lost a person they love to a drug death,
there is a Healing Hearts meeting tonight at 6:00 to 7:30.
Held at 2020 Estevan Road in the Brechin United Church library.

Island Health Chief Medical Health Officer Dr. Réka Gustafson said while the nearly 10 per cent decline in deaths is “welcome,” the number of deaths so far this year is still higher than the 1,078 deaths in 2021 and 1,153 deaths in 2022.
Gustafson also said that while there has been a decline in death rates in Fraser Health and in Vancouver Coastal Health and Interior Health, “there hasn’t been a meaningful decline in Island Health and there has been a concerning increase in Central and Northern Island.”

July 31, 2024 – BC Rural Health Network Please check out our Social Media accounts, or complete the form to the right to get on our Newsletter Mailing list. We hate SPAM as much as you, we’ll never share your info.

"Campbell River & District Coalition to End Homelessness has set up a Housing List Drive in preparation for the HEARTH (Homelessness Encampment Action Response Temporary Housing) Village at 1299 Homewood Road. The singular building will have 40 temporary units and is being built in what was a vacant lot adjacent to Nunns Creek Park. It includes shared amenity space and washrooms and will be staffed by a non-profit, providing support services, daily meals, access to skills training, and referrals to health care and community support." [ mirror. com]

"The studio units have private bathrooms and access to gardens and other spaces, and should be ready for people to move in early next year. Priority will be given to those over 19 who have expressed a desire to minimize their exposure to alcohol and substance use." [times colonist . com]

“At least 1,158 British Columbians have lost their lives to unregulated drug toxicity in the first half of 2024, according to preliminary data from the BC Coroners Service (BCCS).
The findings show there were 181 and 185 suspected unregulated drug deaths in May and June 2024, respectively. Though the number of deaths to date this year is lower than at the same mark over the previous three years, approximately six people are still dying each day because of unregulated toxic drugs.
“People are continuing to lose their loved ones in communities across B.C. at a tragic rate,” said John McNamee, acting chief coroner. “Even as the figures reflect a 9% decrease in the number of deaths reported to the coroners service during the first six months of this year from 2023, the number of lives lost is still significant.”
Nearly half of reported deaths in May and June were people between the ages of 30 and 49. While males account for 72% of deaths so far in 2024, the rate of deaths among females continues to rise and currently accounts for 28% of deaths in 2024.
Notably, the rates of unregulated drug toxicity deaths (per 100,000) by health service delivery area are highest in the Northern Interior (106.6), North Vancouver Island (78.😎, Vancouver (66.3) and Central Vancouver Island (62.😎. More than one-fifth of the lives lost so far in 2024 have been in Vancouver (22%), followed by Surrey (10%) and Greater Victoria (7%).
Fentanyl continues to be the driver of unregulated drug-toxicity deaths, detected in 82% of expedited toxicological tests conducted so far in 2024.
Unregulated drug toxicity remains the leading cause of death in British Columbia for those age 10 to 59, accounting for more deaths than homicides, suicides, accidents and natural diseases combined. Since the public-health emergency was declared in April 2016, more than 14,948 people have lost their lives to unregulated toxic drugs.” https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fapp.powerbi.com%2Fview%3Fr%3DeyJrIjoiNzE0ZmZmNTctOTE3Ny00ZmI5LTliNjctNWQ5NWI1MTI0OTJhIiwidCI6IjZmZGI1MjAwLTNkMGQtNGE4YS1iMDM2LWQzNjg1ZTM1OWFkYyJ9&h=AT2JTzlJYc-JQF-dNz4AC91jnpci-0DdWMmfTkW0mFjdahxCBeHfNWQ2SEZZTISfR10cqXpJxw3MijDGWgCeRXVEDy6uIDU_Xb8q1e07YDfMgMJp4Q-XR7AbMR89dXRiXnJeM4A&s=1

Microsoft Power BI

NANDU Meets today, Friday, June 28th at the Harbourfront Library at 2:30 pm. Stipend & Snack offered. 604-719-5313 for more info.

Ending Safer Supply: Alberta’s Drug Policy Experiment In this video, we learn about Alberta’s efforts to crack down on healthcare providers who prescribe safer supply, one young woman’s legal battle to keep her ...

June 11, 2024 early edition CBC radio interview w Garth Mullins “Drug user advocates say they do not accept the NDP's decision to walk back drug decriminalization in public spaces. The decision was approved by Health Canada in May. A coalition of advocacy groups has applied for a judicial review of the move. They say it unfairly targets people who don't have homes or indoor spaces in which to use their drugs. Garth Mullins is the host of the Crackdown podcast.”

x.com

“A lack of inter-agency collaboration was seen as a major problem by panelists during on dialogue on addressing the stigma of the toxic drug crisis in Nanaimo.
The Nanaimo Community Action Team held a discussion Tuesday, May 28, at the Port Theatre.
“There has been a lot thrown to the table as to what we can do directly in this community. For 10 years we’ve had health and housing plans and conferences, meetings and all always pointing to collaborative efforts,” said Jovonne Johnson, director with non-profit Risebridge. “The thing is bringing the right people to the table.”
This past April marked eight years since the toxic drug crisis was declared a health emergency. During the eight years, Island Health’s region has experienced 2,400 drug-poisoning deaths.
The panel on Tuesday, May 28 was part of a series of talks organized by the community action team on safety, harm reduction and the drug crisis in the city. Panelists included Allison Ainsley from the South End Community Association, Wanda LeBlanc from Moms Stop the Harm, Sharon Karsten from Walk With Me, as well as several other grassroots organizations.
Johnson recognized city staff who made a point to attend, but lamented a lack of elected officials.
“These are the people holding the positions who have the ability to make the systematic change we need on the municipal front at the present moment and they continuously don’t show up to these conversations,” she said. “When they do they’re given the comfort of sitting in positions that are comfortable, they’re not called out on it. We don’t ask them what their action looks like.”
Also discussed was the need to humanize the issue.
Fred Jeffery, owner of the downtown fashion store Lucid, told the story of his friend and former co-worker Emily, who died from an overdose in her car in 2023, just a few blocks away from a safe consumption site.
“I really honestly can’t help but think it was the stigma that prevented her from just going down the street and visiting the [overdose prevention site] that day or any other day and potentially saving her life,” he said.
Jeffery said he tells the story of Emily’s death to fellow business owners.
“Business minds tend to like the simplest and cheapest solutions to problems. Unfortunately this sometimes means sometimes my business neighbours just don’t want this problem to exist on their doorstep. The easiest solution is just to push it away with no real solution for the outcome,” he said. “I think just humanizing and telling their stories is really important.”
Griffin Russell, regional harm reduction coordinator with Island Health Shared Services B.C. emphasized that need.
“When we’re talking about people they’re so multi-dimensional,” he said. “They’re poets, they’re artists, they’re adventurers, athletes, musicians. They are friends, they’re cherished. So to me that is the ultimate gesture, to just bring it into these conversations and just add that.”
Russell added that he avoids focusing heavily on the addiction aspect in these conversation, as he said the vast majority of drug users would not be considered within the scope of addiction.
“They do not meet those diagnositic criterias or this new softer language we have around substance-use disorders,” he said. “There’s a massive spectrum out there. I understand, I believe in my heart that people are using substances as a way of coping, as a way of showing up, a component of their resiliency and it’s very nuanced.”
Lenae Silva from the Open Heart Collaborative spoke from her own experience as a substance user. She said the answer to addressing the crisis is a lot simpler than most people think.
“If someone pulled your house away from you, your home away from you, your ability to be comfortable, what would you do?” Silva asked. “We have to unsilo all of these programs and start working together. Island Health is a separate entity, housing associations are separate entities.”
Last week’s event follows past public dialogues on the toxic drug crisis in 2022 and 2023.”

From Jan 1, 2024 to May 1, 2024 there have been 43 deaths in Greater Nanaimo. 😞 The deaths from unregulated deaths in Greater Nanaimo are increasing in 2024.

Microsoft Power BI

“The new indoor inhalation space will be a significant component of Island Health’s goal to reconfigure The Harbour into a Wellness and Recovery Centre,” said Leah Hollins, Island Health Board Chair. “The Wellness and Recovery Centre will be fully implemented in phases over the coming months and is based on the Cowichan Valley Wellness and Recovery site, which provides harm reduction, overdose prevention, access to medication-supported therapies and treatment, on-site basic health services and connection to Island Health on-site mental health and substance use services.”
The new indoor inhalation service will operate the same hours as the previous temporary service -- from 8 am to 7 pm, and will be able to accommodate up to 24 clients at a time. It will continue to be operated in partnership with the same providers which operate The Harbour and the temporary site – Island Health, Lookout Health and Housing Society and SOLID Outreach.

“We want to express our gratitude to the City of Victoria for the use of 926 Pandora for the temporary inhalation service over the past two years,” said James Hanson, Island Health VP, Clinical Services Acute Care North and Community Services. The city’s support of this service has without a doubt saved many lives.”

Permanent inhalation service opens within The Harbour supervised consumption site People who inhale illicit drugs now have access to a permanent indoor inhalation overdose prevention service in downtown Victoria, as part of ongoing efforts to respond to the toxic drug supply public health emergency and save lives.

"The centre includes Vancouver Island University researchers from health sciences, chemistry and kinesiology who have dedicated their careers to helping people recover from trauma and mental illness and can take different approaches to address within their overlapping fields. ...Shultz, along with VIU nursing professor Shannon Dames and adjunct professor Pamela Kryskow, are investigating how psychedelic-assisted therapy can be used to treat post-traumatic stress disorder and brain injuries." [nanaimo bulletin . com]

The War on Drug Users | Compassionate Intervention | Euan Thomson Euan is dedicated to providing an alternative look into what's happening in Canada around substance use and how our leaders are forming in implementing polic...