The B.C. minister in charge of universities and colleges has written a letter to the University of Victoria board chair, asking how the institution will handle concerns highlighted by the preventable overdose death of an 18-year-old student.
Post-Secondary Minister Lisa Beare penned the letter June 13 to board chair Paul Ramsey in response to the fentanyl poisoning of first-year student Sidney McIntyre-Starko, who didn’t survive even though first-aid-trained campus security officers arrived in the dorm within minutes.
Beare felt compelled to reach out to Ramsey after she met with Sidney’s parents, Dr. Caroline McIntyre and Kenton Starko, along with Premier David Eby, the mental-health and addictions minister and deputy ministers from various ministries.
“Dr. McIntyre and Mr. Starko presented a significant amount of information, including their communications with the University of Victoria, and identified a number of actions to prevent a similar tragedy in the future,” says the letter, which Beare’s ministry shared with Postmedia News.
Student witnesses called for help immediately when Sidney collapsed on Jan. 23, but she didn’t receive the overdose-reversing drug naloxone for 13 minutes or CPR for 15 minutes, Postmedia has reported in a series of stories. Her brain was fatally starved of oxygen.
Although thousands of overdoses are successfully reversed by naloxone in this province, toxic drug poisoning is now the leading cause of death for British Columbians age 10 to 59.
Since the public health emergency was declared eight years ago, 26 people have died after accidentally overdosing on the grounds of a B.C. university, college or high school, according to new statistics from the B.C. Coroners Service. Six victims died in each of 2022 and 2023, and there were two deaths as of early May this year, including Sidney’s.
Days after Sidney’s story was published, Beare held a meeting with the heads of B.C.’s 25 universities and colleges, and created an overdose-prevention committee that will develop new post-secondary guidelines.
Beare’s letter lays out nine policies the committee will examine, including accessible naloxone on campuses; campus security training; directing students to call 911 first in an emergency; and better communication to warn students about overdoses, advise families about emergencies and alert government about deaths on campuses.
Sidney’s parents appreciate Beare pushing to improve safety, but remain frustrated these steps weren’t taken sooner.
“Twelve people fatally overdosed on school grounds in the two years before our daughter died, so an overdose prevention and response plan should have been implemented on campuses years ago. Why did B.C. wait for another death to take action?” asked McIntyre, an emergency physician.
“Although we believe this should have already been in place when Sidney was poisoned by fentanyl, we are grateful that Minister Beare is taking the steps needed to get this done.”
Beare also asked Ramsey to update her on five additional concerns flagged by Sidney’s parents that pertain directly to UVic, including:
• Each campus building needs its own address so they’re easier for 911 to find;
• Remove online claims that inflate campus security training, such as saying they’re “trained paramedics” when they aren’t;
• Make the parents part of UVic’s internal review so the information they gathered, such as the 911 call, is included;
• UVic president Kevin Hall should “immediately” contact the parents to provide documents he promised them and give regular updates on their concerns. (The family said they last heard from the president’s office April 5.)
Postmedia asked UVic for an update on the items in Beare’s letter. Hall issued a statement in response but provided no details or timelines.
“Out of every tragedy, there are lessons to be learned and specific areas of improvement to be acted on, some of which are reflected in correspondence from both the family and the provincial government,” Hall said.
“The University of Victoria has begun implementing changes to make our campus safer and, while we will be taking further action over the coming weeks, we will in the first instance communicate these initiatives to the family and government directly. Their input will be instrumental in this process.”
UVic has said it will follow any recommendations from the coroner’s inquest into Sidney’s death, but no date has yet been set.
“We believe that it is critical to implement these obvious and necessary changes immediately to improve safety on campus today,” Starko said.
Beare’s ministry will give an update in July on the work done so far by the overdose prevention committee, and said the new policies will be in place by September.
Ramsey didn’t respond to an interview request.
For more information about this case, visit the parents’ website SidneyShouldBeHere.ca.
