2 Manitobans lost loved ones to overdoses. Now they want an alternative to toxic street drugs

published on July 16, 2026 by Alana Cole in CBC News

Tammy Taillieu remembers her niece Destiny as a force to be reckoned with.

She recalls how the 22-year-old university student was smart, compassionate and an advocate.

She also used substances, Taillieu said.

Destiny Taillieu died after a deadly dose of fentanyl in 2018. She and her boyfriend thought they were buying heroin, her aunt said.

“I think that the whole fact that she died of a fentanyl poisoning was a shock to my family ’cause that’s not what she intended on purchasing,” Tammy Taillieu said.

In the years since Destiny’s death, her aunt has watched the number of overdose deaths in Manitoba rise…