Two more North Island First Nations have reached out to authorities with a plea for help in the wake of a state of emergency declared last week by the Gwa’sala-‘Nakwaxda’xw First Nations.
The 1,100-member Port Hardy-area GNFN made the declaration Thursday after 11 deaths in two months, most of them drug- and alcohol-related.
This week, the Kwakiutl, and Quatsino First Nations joined them in an appeal to the First Nations Health Authority and Island Health “to determine what supports are needed in response to the current mental health crisis we are experiencing in our communities,” and provide those supports.