Mike Parker, the president of the Alberta union that includes paramedics, reacts to reporting by Drug Data Decoded showing the Alberta government under-reports ambulance dispatches to drug toxicity by as much as 89 percent.
The Alberta government says it has “the most transparent data reporting system in North America" for drug toxicity. In reality, internal data manipulation causes most emergency calls to go unreported.
Launched to government fanfare on sole-source contracts, the Digital Overdose Response System app is barely used most days and has registered just 51 ambulance dispatches over four years –– around 0.14 percent of the ministry's under-reported dispatches for opioid toxicity in that period.
Drug Data Decoded had a breakthrough year in 2025, topping 2,000 subscribers and winning an Alberta Magazine Award for drug policy coverage.
A new policy in federal prisons removes methadone and Suboxone opioid treatments, leaving only a patented once-per-month gel injection available to prisoners. A large group of experts is raising serious concerns about harms to prisoners –– and the corporate motivations behind the move.
New documents reveal Calgary Police Service suppressed evidence of brutality by officers at the University of Calgary on May 9, 2024. Among this was camera footage from senior officers that should have been examined during an internal investigation.
The Fifth Estate is reporting that two federally commissioned expert reviews provided unanimous support for rapidly scaling up safe supply, including compassion clubs, but the government silenced the findings. Drug Data Decoded has spent eleven months investigating: who killed the expert reviews?
Convictions are on hold as the compassion club founders prepare for a Charter challenge to begin on November 24.
On October 1, Guy Felicella published an op-ed in the Calgary Herald responding to a piece written by Marshall Smith that favoured expansion of police power to address public drug use. On October 6, a defamation notice from Smith to Felicella prompted the Herald to quietly remove the story.
Justice Catherine Murray closed the trial with remarks that showed sympathy for the accused and noted the confusing behaviour of Health Canada, the Vancouver police and all other political entities during and since the 2023 arrests of Eris Nyx and Jeremy Kalicum.
Drug Data Decoded has obtained a trove of new documents on the Calgary police chief and deputy resignations. Despite heavy redactions, they reveal a power struggle within the service fuelled by commission messaging.
ROSC Solutions Group, a top recipient of AB recovery contracts, was funded for two reports on operations of Saskatchewan recovery centres. Their outcomes are creating a new beachhead for the privatized, abstinence-focused 'recovery-oriented system of care.'
Alberta model
This story was written the first summer after Drug Data Decoded launched, appearing on the cover of the March 2024 Alberta Views. Since then, its conclusions and predictions have borne out. A look at some of the follow-up work on the Alberta Recovery Model.
Surveillance
The Alberta government confirmed it is ending My Recovery Plan, the app that ostensibly tracked recovery progress & facility wait lists. However, the app is hosted by Amazon, placing users' personal health data at the mercy of the American Cloud Act.
DULF
The question is not whether allowing access to regulated drugs is the right thing to do –– that is now confirmed. The question is whether enough collective will can be mustered to overcome the carceral bureaucracy keeping regulated drugs out of reach. DULF can do that –– with your help.
Surveillance
Alberta's Ministry of Mental Health and Addiction is quietly terminating its contract with a personal data-harvesting app and replacing it with a publicly-owned 'bed availability dashboard.' The move coincides with reported scrutiny of ministry spending by the Auditor General.
forced abstinence
The Alberta government has issued a request for interested parties to participate in the procurement process for two forced abstinence detention facilities, to be located in northwest Calgary and northeast Edmonton – right beside existing carceral institutions.
Calgary Police
Documents show that two years after being caught using Clearview AI facial recognition software, Calgary police signed contracts for AI software that scours photos and videos for individuals. Have police agencies across Canada taken a secret shortcut to facial recognition?
ROSC Solutions Group
As one recovery centre admits that recovery coaches supplied by Bowline Health are now mandatory to access its residential services, it is unclear if the Province will mandate its coaches across the recovery system. Meanwhile, the company's vertical integration expands to emergency rooms.
Calgary Police
Calgary police oversight is in crisis. Police commission failed to investigate alleged deceit by the chief for a year before dropping the files upon his resignation, which media have seemingly given up trying to explain. Meanwhile, emails reveal bias of corporate media toward police narratives.
Compassionate Intervention Act
In advance of Support. Don't Punish on June 26, the founders of RECLAIM Collective share their thoughts on how the forced abstinence legislation recently passed by the Alberta government will impact their community.
News
Demand continues to increase dramatically for clean drug inhalation supplies, but procurement data obtained by Drug Data Decoded show the supply is being throttled back. Is the shortfall helping to drive Alberta cities to new overdose heights?
Media Criticism
Two long-form articles in national news outlets are promoting the BC government's "secure care" policy the same week that the government faces a pivotal legal challenge on its expansive interpretation of the Mental Health Act.
Surveillance
As Chief Mark Neufeld announces his resignation, a ten-month investigation by Drug Data Decoded reveals extensive social media monitoring by his media relations unit that could violate privacy regulations.