Casualties of substance use honoured in park memorial

Antoinette Gravel-Ouellette was teary-eyed as she pointed to multiple photographs stapled to trees in Coronation Park in Brandon on Monday, honouring people she knew who’ve died of substance-related harm.

“I don’t think I’ve talked to anybody that doesn’t either have a family member, friend, or know of somebody that’s struggled or that’s passed,” she said.

“Everybody is somebody’s somebody. We are talking about people’s mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, aunts, uncles (and) children.”

She put up additional photos on Monday morning after more family members reached out to the non-profit Brandon and Area Gone Too Soon and Substance Use Awareness organization to have their loved ones included in the park for Overdose Awareness Month in August.

Seven volunteers, including Gravel-Ouellette, who is chair of the non-profit and a program co-ordinator of Moms Stop the Harm, began displaying nearly 170 photos of Manitobans “gone too soon” on Saturday.

The local group usually sets up a memorial with the photos annually in Dinsdale Park leading up to International Overdose Awareness Day on Aug. 31, but flooding of the Assiniboine River caused them to set up the display in the park on Louise Avenue.

“The reason we do that is people go there to remember their loved ones, to honour them, to let them know they’re not forgotten — they’re still loved,” she said.

A few dog walkers and couples had already stopped to look at the photos on Monday as Gravel-Ouellette continued to set up and speak with them about the memorial.

Volunteers also tied purple ribbons along the First Street and 18th Street bridges, she told the Sun.

“Substance use is very much stigmatized in our society and substance-related deaths can happen to anybody,” Gravel-Ouellette said.

There were 99 substance-related deaths across Manitoba in the first three months of the year, preliminary data from the office of the chief medical examiner show.

In 2025, there were 388 substance-related deaths, an overall decrease from 570 in 2024.

“When you have a toxic supply of drugs on the street, that’s what’s killing people. So, if we had a regulated supply, that would take that out of the equation,” she said.

Many people who are using substances aren’t aware that their supply has been mixed with a dangerous combination of drugs, and naloxone, a fast-acting medication used to reverse the effects of opioid overdoses, doesn’t respond to some substances, she said.

“One of my loved ones is still very much struggling with substance use, and that’s an ongoing, everyday anticipatory grief, whether they’re going to make it or not,” Gravel-Ouellette said.

She said the community needs more accessible supports for people struggling with addictions, along with a continuum of care.

“We need to have multiple options for people for healing … There’s not one way or pathway to heal,” she said.

Gravel-Ouellette described her own healing journey of being abstinent of stimulants and alcohol for 23 years, as well as the challenges her child faced when seeking treatment options for opioid use nine years ago.

This experience influenced her to help create the withdrawal support services program through Brandon’s Community Health and Housing Association to minimize gaps for people with addictions.

She said she would also like to see Brandon open a supervised consumption site, similar to Winnipeg’s that’s expected to officially launch on Aug. 11.

Gravel-Ouellette advocates to end the stigma on substance use because “it affects everybody in all walks of life everywhere.” She encourages people to carry naloxone, call 911 if someone is experiencing an overdose and not to use substances alone.

Brandon and Area Gone Too Soon and Substance Use Awareness is hosting a community walk in partnership with the Manitoba Harm Reduction Network on Aug. 31 at noon in Princess Park. Tables with resources will also be on site.

Later that evening, naloxone training, food and flag-making will be available from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Coronation Park, followed by a candlelight vigil.

Gravel-Ouellette reminds people that they are also welcome to visit the Brandon Gone Too Soon Garden at the Riverbank Discovery Centre and talk to their loved ones who’ve passed through a wind phone.

» tadamski@brandonsun.com