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B.C. Human Rights Commissioner says stigmatizing drug use is a violation

Yesterday, Kasari Govender, B.C. Human Rights Commissioner, issued a position statement calling the provincial government’s stigma-based response `a violation` of human rights and criticized its failure to take `evidence-based action`.
Kasari Govender said the provincial government treats drug use as a moral failing and prioritizes criminal-justice and involuntary-care responses, urging science over political ideology with COVID-19 pandemic urgency.
The BC Coroners Service reports 158 illicit-drug overdose deaths in September, down almost 20 per cent from last year, with about 5.3 deaths per day in September, according to Govender.
Recommending policy change, Kasari Govender urged safer supply and harm reduction that she says reduce deaths even if they `might not be politically popular`.
This report was first published Nov. 13, 2025 by The Canadian Press, including a photo of Govender speaking in Vancouver on March 7, 2023.

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