Nuu-Chah-Nulth Tribal Council is calling for urgent support from governments to stop preventable deaths in the 14 First Nations it represents.

SACRAMENTO — The City of Sacramento submitted a proposal Monday to declare a state of emergency over pedestrian safety and traffic deaths. The initiative comes after the third fatal vehicle versus pedestrian accident this month.

The council is now calling on the provincial and federal governments and health authorities to resource strategies that take swift and meaningful action to combat the drug crisis.

Figures from the First Nations Health Authority show Indigenous people died from drug poisonings at more than six times the rate of other B.C. residents last year