071b Pain for Profit: Canada's Opioid Crisis Artwork

Canadian Creepies

Welcome to Canadian Creepies—the podcast that digs into the dark corners of Canada’s past and present. Your hosts Valerie, Ali, Amanda Joy ( host of Down the Crooked Path), and sometimes Kyle explore the true crime cases that haunt us, the paranormal encounters that make us question what’s real, and the unsettling folklore that lingers just out of sight.

From cults to cold cases, ghosts to government cover-ups, we don’t just tell the stories—we ask why they still matter.

It’s creepy. It’s Canadian. And it’s probably going to keep you up at night.

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Canadian Creepies

071b Pain for Profit: Canada's Opioid Crisis

July 02, 2026 • Canadian Creepies • Season 2

0:00 | 1:15:01

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Pain for Profit: Canada's Opioid Crisis – Part Two

Who pays the price when healthcare fails the people it's supposed to protect?

In the second half of our investigation into Canada's opioid crisis, we examine the human cost of a system that too often mistakes treatment for a prescription pad. We explore the gender bias that leaves women's pain dismissed, the patients abandoned as prescribing practices suddenly changed, and the lasting trauma created when healthcare turned its back on those it once encouraged to trust it.

We also travel to Pembroke and Renfrew County to examine Ontario's new HART Hub model, asking one of the most difficult questions facing the province today: can recovery-first treatment replace harm reduction, or do both need to exist side by side to save lives?

Through research, lived experience, and an emotional interview with a mother who lost her daughter to fentanyl, this episode looks beyond statistics to the people, families, and communities forever changed by Canada's deadliest public health crisis.

Because behind every number is a name, and behind every policy decision is someone trying to survive.

✨ This episode also highlights the work of Niagara Reproductive Justice (NRJ)— Learn more or support their work by visiting their social media or emailing niagarareproductivejustice@gmail.com.

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Edited by Kyle McDonnell