Ruins uncovered near Vatican believed to be Emperor Nero’s theater

"What an artist dies with me!"

Nero, the emperor of Rome from AD 54 until AD 68, reportedly uttered those famous last words before his death in exile. Experts believe he may have left behind evidence of his love of the arts in the form of a theater he built near what today is the Vatican.

An archaeological excavation carried out in the courtyard of the frescoed Palazzo della Rovere has brought to light structures and decorations that experts say could be the remains of that theater.

The archeological site at the Palazzo della Rovere is seen.© Phoebe Natanson/ABC News

Daniela Porro, the special superintendent of Rome, said Wednesday this "exceptional" discovery is believed to be where Nero rehearsed poetry and musical performances, a place mentioned in Roman writings, but until now never located.

Archaeologists have been working on the site since 2020 and say they've found part of the hemicycle-shaped seating section, along with elegant columns in precious and valuable marbles, refined decorations in gold-leaf on stucco and storage rooms for costumes and scenery.

A table with artifacts is seen at the dig site.© Phoebe Natanson/ABC News

The dig, which was carried out in a circumscribed area within the walls of the grand palazzo, situated on Via della Conciliazione, just a few steps from St. Peter's Square, also gifted other rich historical findings. These include the possible remains of the Horti di Agrippina, which is where Caligula built a large circus for horse racing, as well as traces of the production and pilgrimage activities from the medieval age and even artifacts from the 15th century.

MORE: From fossils discovered in Mongolia to 19th century shipwrecks, some of the biggest discoveries of the year

Archaeologists say they're particularly thrilled to have found rare specimens of medieval glass goblets, cooking pots to make bread in, coins, bits of musical instruments and combs made from bone, "tools" used to make rosary beads and small insignia of medieval Christian devotion worn on pilgrims' clothing.

Archeologist and medieval history expert Ilaria de Luca displays items found at the excavation site.© Phoebe Natanson/ABC News

Archaeologist Marzia Di Mento, who is in charge of the dig, says that the findings will take years to study.

"It is a superb dig, one that every archaeologist dreams of…..being able to dig in this built-up historically-rich area is so rare," she told reporters.

Artifacts found at the excavation site are stored in containers.© Phoebe Natanson/ABC News

Archeologists say work is still in progress to study, catalogue and analyze all the findings before the area will be covered over for protection and the grand palazzo and garden restored to its original Renaissance grandeur.

MORE: Archeologists find ancient tomb of temple guard near Giza Pyramids

Part of the building will become a Four Seasons hotel that is expected to open in 2025.

Local officials say the artifacts will be put on display and all the dig's findings put in a city-run public databank to add to the wealth of information gathered over the years on life in Rome throughout the centuries.

Swordfish missing circle-shaped chunks of flesh hauled in by fishers. What bit it?

Fishers hauled in a swordfish (Xiphias gladius) covered in dozens of cookiecutter shark bites.

 Courtesy of TK Walker (screenshot from YouTube)

Fishers in Australia have hauled in a swordfish covered in dozens of strange, circular wounds following a shark "pack attack."

Tony "TK" Walker and his crew were fishing off the northeastern coast in the Coral Sea when they reeled in the large fish and soon identified the wounds as cookiecutter shark bites. 

"The cookie cutter sharks have had a go at this guy," Walker, a former commercial fisher from New Zealand, wrote in a Facebook post on July 19. "Must've been a pack attack, they made more than a snack out of him, that's for sure."

The swordfish (Xiphias gladius) was alive when the fishers hauled it onto their boat, but the bites were oozing blood, and the creature died shortly afterwards. As shown in a video on Walker's YouTube channel, the wounds were fresh, suggesting the attack occurred minutes before the mutilated swordfish was reeled in. 

Related: Shark bites man wading in waist-high water off South Carolina beach resort 

Although he regularly catches fish with cookiecutter shark bites, Walker said he'd never seen one so badly mauled. "We see these bites daily and often the fish will have three or four fresh bites and plenty of healed or semi-healed bites," he told Newsweek. But in 40 years of fishing, Walker had "never seen an attack like that."

Cookiecutter sharks (Isistius brasiliensis) are some of the weirdest sharks lurking in the ocean. They are named after their cookie cutter-shaped jaws, which they use to latch onto prey before spinning to scoop out a chunk of flesh, according to the Australian Museum.

These alien-looking sharks only grow to around 20 inches (50 centimeters) long, but they terrorize animals of all sizes, mostly around the coast of Australia and Tasmania. They are known to attack animals much larger than themselves, including great white sharks (Carcharodon carcharias), whales, orcas (Orcinus orca) and even humans. In 2009, the first and only known cookiecutter shark attack on a human took place off the coast of Hawaii, when a long-distance swimmer was bitten on the chest and left calf. 

"They race in while the fish is cruising along and just bite a chunk of meat out," Walker, who founded the company TK Offshore Fishing, told Newsweek. The sharks then dart off with their prize, leaving their prey no time to react, he added. "I would imagine it would be like mosquitoes buzzing around for the large swordfish and tuna."

Cookiecutter sharks may also lure their prey closer by posing as smaller fish, according to the Australian Museum. Their bellies are dotted with light-producing organs called photophores that make them invisible to creatures swimming below them. Only a dark-pigmented collar that lacks photophores stands out against the light that shines through the water from above, which may look like a little fish to other predators and entice them to attack. The cookiecutter shark then ambushes and latches onto the larger predator to remove a disk of its flesh.

Cenovus Energy cuts production outlook due to impact from wildfires, profit slumps

Story by Reuters • 

A warning sign is pictured near well heads that inject steam into the ground and pump oil out at the Cenovus Energy Christina Lake SAGD project south of Fort McMurray

© Thomson Reuters

(Reuters) -Oil and gas producer Cenovus Energy Inc reported a 64% fall in second-quarter profit on Thursday, and lowered total production outlook for 2023 as wildfires in Canada's main oil producing province Alberta forced companies to curtail output.

Benchmark Brent crude averaged $79.92 a barrel in the second quarter, nearly 28% lower than a year earlier, pressured by the banking crisis and fears of a looming recession.

Some oil and gas companies in Alberta were also forced to re-curtail output as record-high temperatures and tinder-dry vegetation led to an intense, early start to the wildfire season in western Canada this year.

The fires caused more than 30,000 people to abandon their homes while oil and gas producers shut in at least 319,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd), or 3.7% of national production.

Cenovus lowered its 2023 upstream production outlook to between 775,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd) and 795,000 boepd, from its earlier forecast of 790,000 boepd and 810,000 boepd.

The company had said in May about 85,000 boepd of production, primarily dry gas, had been impacted in the company's Rainbow Lake, Kaybob-Edson, Elmworth-Wapiti and Clearwater operating areas.

Quarterly upstream production fell 4.2% to 729,900 boepd from 762,000 boepd a year earlier due to the impact of wildfire and planned maintenance.

The Canadian energy firm reported downstream throughput of 538,000 barrels per day (bpd), about 18% higher than a year earlier, as volumes ramped up after work was restarted at the Superior and Toledo refineries.

The company's net debt stood at C$6.4 billion as of June 30.

The Calgary, Alberta-based company reported a net income of C$866 million ($657.41 million), or 44 Canadian cents per share, for the quarter ended June 30, compared with C$2.43 billion, or C$1.19 per share, a year earlier.

Analysts had expected reported earnings per share of 41 Canadian cents.

($1 = 1.3173 Canadian dollars)

(Reporting by Arshreet Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri)

 TC Energy Corp. will split into two separate companies spinning off its liquids pipelines business.

CALGARY — TC Energy Corp. says it will split into two separate companies by spinning off its liquids pipelines business.

The Calgary-based pipeline giant says its board of directors has approved the plan, which comes as the result of a two-year strategic review.

Following the transaction, TC Energy will focus on natural gas infrastructure as well as nuclear, pumped hydro energy storage and new energy opportunities.

The new liquids pipeline business will focus on enhancing the value of the company's existing 4,900 kilometres of crude oil pipelines.

The company says the transaction is expected to be completed in the second half of 2024.

The new liquids pipeline business will be publicly traded and will be headquartered in Calgary, with an office in Houston, Texas.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 27, 2023.

Companies in this story: (TSX:TRP)

The Canadian Press

IEA says coal use hit an all-time high last year — and global demand will persist near record levels

Story by Anmar Frangoul • CNBC

The IEA said 10,440 terawatt hours were generated from coal in 2022.

That figure accounted for 36% of the planet's electricity generation.

A fossil fuel, coal's use has a substantial impact on the environment.

Freight trains loaded with coal in China on Jan. 12, 2022. According to the IEA, coal consumption hit a record high last year

Coal consumption increased by 3.3% to hit a fresh record high of 8.3 billion metric tons in 2022, the International Energy Agency said Thursday.

According to the Paris-based organization's Coal Market Update, demand increased "despite a weaker global economy, mainly driven by being more readily available and relatively cheaper than gas in many parts of the world."

Overall, the IEA said 10,440 terawatt hours were generated from coal in 2022, a figure that accounted for 36% of the planet's electricity generation.

Looking ahead, the IEA said coal consumption in 2023 would remain near last year's record levels.

Geographically, the picture in 2023 is mixed. "By region, coal demand fell faster than previously expected in the first half of this year in the United States and the European Union — by 24% and 16%, respectively," the IEA said in a statement accompanying its report.

"However, demand from the two largest consumers, China and India, grew by over 5% during the first half, more than offsetting declines elsewhere," it added.

Coal is a fossil fuel. Its use has a substantial impact on the environment, with environmental organization Greenpeace describing it as "the dirtiest, most polluting way of producing energy."

The U.S. Energy Information Administration, meanwhile, lists a range of emissions related to the burning of coal, including carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, particulates and nitrogen oxides.

"Coal is the largest single source of carbon emissions from the energy sector, and in Europe and the United States, the growth of clean energy has put coal use into structural decline," Keisuke Sadamori, the IEA's director of energy markets and security, said Thursday.

"But demand remains stubbornly high in Asia, even as many of those economies have significantly ramped up renewable energy sources," he added.

Going forward, Sadamori said "greater policy efforts and investments" were needed in order to "drive a massive surge in clean energy and energy efficiency to reduce coal demand in economies where energy needs are growing fast."

Canadian Human Rights Tribunal approves $23B First Nations child welfare settlement

OTTAWA — The Canadian Human Rights Tribunal has approved a $23.4-billion settlement agreement for First Nations children, youth and families harmed by the federal government's underfunding of child welfare services.

"According to the parties, this is the largest compensation settlement in Canadian history and it now includes a commitment from the Minister of Indigenous Services to request an apology from the Prime Minister," the decision, released Wednesday, reads.

Cindy Blackstock, executive director of the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society, has been negotiating the settlement alongside the Assembly of First Nations.

While compensation is important, justice will only be achieved once discrimination stops and effective measures are put in place so it doesn't happen again, Blackstock said in a release.

"The tribunal called Canada’s discrimination 'wilful and reckless' and a 'worst-case scenario' because it separated children unnecessarily from their families and created other serious harms – including the tragic deaths of some children."

The latest settlement comes more than 15 years after the two organizations jointly launched a human-rights complaint that sparked a years-long legal battle with Ottawa.

The 2007 complaint revolved around allegations that Ottawa's underfunding of on-reserve child welfare services amounted to discrimination, and that First Nations children were denied equal access to support including school supplies and medical equipment.

The tribunal eventually ruled in the complainants' favour, setting off a range of lawsuits, appeals and proposed settlements.

Last year, Ottawa offered to spend $20 billion to reform the child-welfare system and another $20 billion on compensation, but the tribunal rejected the proposal and raised concerns that not all eligible claimants would receive compensation.

The new deal included an extra $3 billion to compensate another 13,000 people and made other amendments both sides hoped would satisfy the tribunal's concerns.

On Wednesday, the tribunal announced that the additional measures met the bar.

Those who qualify for the settlement will receive at least $40,000, with some receiving more, as the government has agreed to pay interest on the payments.

"Complete justice will be achieved when systemic racial discrimination no longer exists. The compensation in this case is only one component," the decision reads.

"The tribunal, assisted meaningfully by the parties, has always focused on the need for a complete reform, the elimination of the systemic racial discrimination found and the need to prevent similar practices from arising. This continues to be the tribunal's focus."

Blackstock thanked First Nations leadership and experts, along with a long list of Indigenous groups and lawyers for their work on the file.

"Let’s finish the job by ending the discrimination and raising the first generation of First Nations children that do not have to recover from their childhoods."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 26, 2023.

The Canadian Press

Shinjiro Atae comes out as gay as Japan faces pressure to pass pro-LGBTQ+ legislation

Story by By Alli Rosenbloom, CNN 

Japanese pop star Shinjiro Atae announced that he is gay on Wednesday – a bold move for such a public figure in Japan, a the country still does not recognize same-sex unions.

According to a press release sent to CNN, Atae hosted a fan event where he shared his news through a “moving speech,” and was met with rousing applause and support from the 2,000 attendees who were present.

“Today was a very special day for me,” Atae wrote in a post on his Instagram page on Wednesday after the event, adding that after years of struggling to accept this part of himself, “I finally have the courage to open up to you about something. I am a gay man.”

His post continued, “It has taken me a long time to be able to say I am gay. I could not even say it to myself. However, I’ve come to realize it is better, both for me, and for the people I care about, including my fans, to live life authentically than to live a life never accepting who I truly am.”

Atae accompanied his announcement with the release of a new single, “Into the Light,” the proceeds of which, in part, will be donated to Pride House Tokyo – Japan’s first permanent LGBTQ+ center – and LGBTQ+ youth organization ReBit.

Known today for his solo music, Atae was previously a member of the co-ed Japanese super-group AAA (Triple A) for over a decade. The group originally debuted in 2005 when Atae was just 14.

The news of Atae’s coming out comes at a tenuous time in Japan, as the country faces increasing pressure from other Group of Seven (G7) nations to allow same-sex marriage.

Japan is the only G7 nation that doesn’t recognize either same-sex civil unions or same-sex marriage, and despite passing a bill last month to promote understanding of the LGBTQ+ community, many critics say the legislation doesn’t provide any human rights guarantees and might ultimately encourage discrimination.

For his part, Atae hopes his announcement helps others, writing on Wednesday that he hopes “people who are struggling with the same feeling will find courage and know they are not alone.”

Witness claims NYPD and federal agencies played a role in Malcolm X’s assassination

Story by By Justin Gamble, CNN • Yesterday 

A man who says he was a member of Malcolm X’s security detail the day the civil rights leader was assassinated in 1965 told reporters Tuesday he saw New York City police officers trying to prevent supporters from restraining a man thought to be involved in the killing.

Mustafa Hassan, who said he used to be a member of the Pan-Africanist organization that Malcolm X founded, made the claim at a news conference in New York.

The man being restrained, Hassan said, was Talmadge Hayer – also known as Mujahid Abdul Halim – who was later arrested and convicted in the killing.

Hassan told reporters Tuesday he believes there was a conspiracy between the New York City Police Department, the CIA and the FBI in Malcolm X’s assassination.

CNN sought comment from the NYPD, the CIA and the FBI.

Hassan said he was never interviewed about what he witnessed.

The new allegation is a part of a multimillion-dollar federal action filed on behalf of Malcolm X’s family by civil rights attorney Ben Crump in February. In his notice to the federal government, Crump accuses the FBI, the CIA and the NYPD of “fraudulent concealment of evidence surrounding Malcolm X’s murder,” according to a February news release.

Malcolm X, one of the most powerful voices in the fight against racism in the nation, was shot dead after he took the stage at the Audubon Ballroom in New York on February 21, 1965.

“The FBI had many informants in the Audubon Ballroom on that tragic day,” Crump, who also represents Hassan, said at Tuesday’s news conference. “We know that they withheld their information and would not let anybody know, sent a directive that nobody is to reveal our presence in the Audubon Ballroom where Malcolm X was assassinated.”

“Not even the informants themselves were aware of who all was involved. That’s why we are putting forth in our legal action that the government was involved in the conspiracy to kill Malcolm X,” Crump said.

Hassan said he decided to come forward now after seeing online that the family of Malcolm X was seeking a financial settlement with governmental agencies for their alleged actions during the assassination.

In a signed affidavit read at Tuesday’s news conference, Hassan said after Malcolm X was shot, he turned his attention “back to the man I had seen running away, knowing that he was in part responsible for what I witnessed.”

“I would later see the same man outside as he was being beaten by Malcolm’s followers while a group of policemen who suddenly showed up on the scene (were) asking is he with us while at the same time holding back Malcolm’s followers from beating him,” Hassan stated in the affidavit.

At Tuesday’s news conference, Hassan and Crump shared a photo showing the moment Hassan reached out and grabbed Hayer’s collar.

Hayer and two other men were convicted in 1966 for the killing and sentenced to life in prison. The two others – Muhammad A. Aziz and Khalil Islam – said they were innocent. Hayer acknowledged he took part in the assassination, but he maintained the innocence of the other two men.

In 2021, a judge vacated the convictions of Aziz and Islam. That came after a 22-month investigation by then-Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance’s office and lawyers for the men found that evidence of their innocence, including FBI documents, was withheld at trial.

Aziz was released from prison in 1985; Islam was released in 1987 but died in 2009 and received a posthumous exoneration.

Last year, New York City agreed to pay $26 million to settle lawsuits filed on behalf of Aziz and Islam.

 CNN.com

DEA chief grilled on Biden’s plans to deschedule marijuana

 The Hill

Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) and Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.) demanded further information from the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) about its plan to remove marijuana from the list of schedule one drugs during a House Judiciary hearing Thursday.

DEA Administrator Anne Milgram testified before the Crime and Federal Government subcommittee during which she informed committee members that her and the agency “have not been given a specific timeline” to review and reevaluate marijuana’s classification.

President Biden put out a marijuana reform statement in October 2022 that called on the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Attorney General to re-evaluate the federal law’s scheduling of marijuana.

The DEA must receive HHS’ review and recommendation to conduct its own evaluation process before coming to a scheduling decision, according to Milgram.

To Gaetz’s dismay, the DEA has yet to receive any such materials from HHS.

“That’s unsettling, isn’t it? When you don’t even know a timeline, it doesn’t really make it seem like something’s front of mind,” Gaetz said to Milgram after she disclosed the status of this procedure.

Cohen supported Gaetz’s stance on the matter, forming a rare bipartisan agreement in the House.

DECRIMINALIZED ALL DRUGS

An NDP MP Learns Drug Crisis Lessons in Portugal


NDP MP for Courtenay-Alberni Gord Johns spent a couple weeks in Portugal in July on an unofficial visit, meeting with policy makers and frontline workers to discuss the country’s harm reduction model.

Johns was travelling with Liberal MP Brendan Hanley, former chief medical officer of health for Yukon, who asked to join Johns’ trip. Johns says it has been “invaluable” to have a Canadian public health expert travelling with him.

Johns spoke with The Tyee July 14 from Portugal about what he’d learned on his travels, which he paid for himself.

He says his constituency has been particularly hard hit by the toxic drug crisis.

“I can’t count on two hands the number of people I know who have died, it’s unbelievable,” he says. “Kids that I’ve watched grow up, adults that I know, professionals that fell through the cracks and people that are recreational drug users.”

Port Alberni has been particularly hard hit by the toxic drug crisis. Over the last year Port Alberni has had over 1,000 deaths per million people, compared to all of B.C. which has had 438 deaths per million, Johns says. Portugal has had six deaths per million, he adds.

“We’re literally off the charts for overdose deaths per capita. I represent a riding very hard hit by the toxic drug crisis, especially for ages 19 to 44, who have a death rate almost five times the provincial average,” he says.

“More people died in Canada last year from overdose than the whole European Union,” Johns says. “We’ve got a lot to learn.”

Johns says it’s his job as a leader to find solutions, so he decided to head to Portugal and see if their model could be imported to Canada.

In the early 2000s there was a high rate of heroin use in Portugal, with around one per cent of the country or 100,000 people estimated to be dependent on opioids. At the same time HIV was spreading as people shared needles. Around 70 per cent of new HIV cases were attributed to intravenous heroin use.

This sparked an overhaul of the country’s drug policy. The national government introduced a “compassionate, health-based approach that is integrated top-to bottom,” he says.

Despite B.C. dealing with a similar total population impacted by drug use — the Ministry of Health says around 100,000 British Columbians have opioid use disorder and are at high risk of accidental overdose if they get drugs from the unregulated illicit market — Canada doesn’t have a national strategy.

In late 2021 Johns tabled a private member’s bill to decriminalize certain substances, expunge certain drug-related convictions and create a national strategy to address the harms caused by “problematic substance use.”

The bill was defeated half a year later in the House of Commons.

A year later Canada still hasn’t created a national strategy or dedicated the “major public resources” needed to save lives, Johns says.

Johns says based on his calculations of the 2023 federal budget, the government has spent $512.6 billion on pandemic-related spending but only $800 million since 2017 on the toxic drug crisis.

To follow Portugal’s example Canada needs to decriminalize personal possession of illicit substances across the country, offer safe supply and treatment on demand and focus on recovery, prevention and education, Johns says, adding this was all outlined in his defeated private member’s bill.

“The Liberals constantly use jurisdiction as a barrier, but they proved through COVID several ways to work through this and to rapidly respond,” he told The Tyee.

This comes down to a lack of political “courage,” something Johns says the Portuguese model isn’t lacking.

Portugal uses a patient-centred integrated care model that focuses equally on treatment, harm reduction, rehabilitation and prevention, he says. This brings together law enforcement, psychologists, health-care workers, social workers, doctors — “everybody is working cohesively with NGOs on the front lines to give people the best chance they can to live the best life they can,” Johns says.

In 2001 the country decriminalized all substances but set limits on quantity, so an individual is generally allowed to carry up to 10 days’ worth of a personal supply. Carrying more than that can lead to criminal charges. This wasn’t a dramatic change for the country’s drug policies because before 2001, police rarely criminalized people for drug use, instead mainly relying on fines to deter people, according to a 2014 review of Portugal’s drug policies.

In B.C. a person 18 years or older can carry up to 2.5 grams worth of certain substances without breaking the law.

Portugal’s harm reduction services mainly focus on opioid substitution treatment and needle and syringe exchanges, according to a 20-year review of the country’s drug policies.

Johns says he was impressed by the speed with which Portugal was able to scale up methadone distribution. Methadone is a long-lasting opioid used as a substitute for people addicted to heroin or morphine. The drug was affordable because the government used its own pharmaceutical labs and personnel to manufacture and scale up production, instead of asking pharmaceutical companies to manufacture the drugs for them, which he says is what Canada does.

In previous reporting about safe supply programs in B.C., The Tyee spoke with doctors, drug policy experts and people with lived experience who said offering people who use drugs alternatives to illicit street drugs has its perks and drawbacks. Offering people regular, safe access to alternatives to illicit street drugs can help people stabilize their lives and reduce the risk of overdose but the substitutions need to match the potency and combination of street drugs the person was using before, otherwise it won’t be effective, The Tyee heard.

In 2001 Portugal had 200 people using methadone and two years later they had 35,000 people using it, Johns says.

Johns says he got to spend a day riding around in the “Mobile Low Threshold Methadone Program,” also known as the “Methadone Mobile Van.”

There are two vans in Lisbon run by Ares do Pinhal, an NGO for social inclusion, that each distribute around 1,350 doses of methadone per day, Johns says. The van will drive to a set location, park for about an hour and greet the people from all walks of life who walk, drive or cycle up to it. People can also access chest X-rays, blood tests and Hepatitis C treatment in the van. After an hour the van will drive to its next set location and repeat the process.

Johns says his time in Portugal has also helped dispel some myths he’s heard about the Portugal model, like how there’s mandatory treatment or how people can go to jail if they refuse treatment.

“The Portuguese officials were very clear with me: not a single person has gone to jail by not going to treatment,” he says.

A police officer can assign someone to a “dissuasion committee” with a member of the judiciary, a health-care worker and social worker. They help connect you with resources so it’s more about creating connections and ensuring patients are aware of what resources are available to them, he says.

Portugal has a much more self-driven process where patients decide what they want, Johns says.

Forced treatment doesn’t work, he says. Instead there are programs such as the methadone van, which dispenses methadone but also gets a team out in the community to help connect people with housing and harm reduction supplies and to ensure people are staying connected with their families.

Treatment is also viewed as a long-term support system, unlike in Canada, where treatment is institutional and people can stay for 30 to 60 days before having to leave, he says.

It’s important to build relationships so that people can access support when they need it, Johns says. When the economy crashes, like in 2012 and again recently with inflation, there’s a “huge spike of relapses,” he says.

Because of the success of the Portuguese model the government had been scaling back resources as demand for treatment beds shrank and the country grappled with its own health care crisis due to a lack of health-care workers.

Now that relapses are rising the country is once again scaling up its national model and preparing for the arrival of synthetic drugs like fentanyl, Johns says. “They’re really forward thinking,” he adds.

Johns says he is “dumbfounded” that Canada still doesn’t have a national strategy to reduce overdose deaths despite B.C. declaring a public health emergency in April 2016. There have been 36,442 toxic drug deaths in Canada between January 2016 and December 2022, which is around 20 deaths per day, according to Health Canada. Since the public health emergency was declared 12,264 British Columbians died from toxic drug poisoning, according to BC Coroner’s Service.

Johns and Hanley aren’t the only politicians who have visited Portugal. In July 2017 then health minister Jane Philpott and Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould, as well as Canada’s current chief public health officer Dr. Theresa Tam visited the country. At the time Wilson-Raybould said she learned a “great deal” and would “continue our review of Canada’s criminal justice system.”

Since that visit 10,897 British Columbians have died due to unregulated drugs, according to the BC Coroners Service.

“I’m not going to let up until the government responds,” Johns says.

Michelle Gamage, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Tyee