Hour 2 of Ottawa Now for Mon. August 31st, 2026

Today marks International Overdose Day – a day to raise awareness about overdose deaths, to highlight that they are preventable, and to reduce the stigma of drug-related deaths. It’s a day that especially hits close to home for the friends and family of loved ones who were taken by drugs. Last year, right here in Ottawa, 74 people lost their lives due to opioid toxicity. Kristy Cameron checks in with Rob Boyd, the CEO of Ottawa Inner City Health, in Hour 2. Meantime, a dramatic scene unfolded at the Fallowfield Train Station on Sunday afternoon, as a car-train collision triggered a massive response from local paramedics. Firefighters rescued the driver of the car, who was trapped inside the mangled vehicle and was pushed dozens of feet into a bush. She was then taken to hospital with non-life threatening injuries and remains in stable condition. Dr. Lesley Spencer, who used to work as an E.R. doctor in Smiths Falls, was waiting at the train station for her husband to arrive. She recounts what she saw on Sunday. Then, we pick the brain of Daljit Nirman, an Ottawa lawyer who is rekindling a stance he took in 2013. After an OC Transpo bus collided with a train that year – an event that turned into one of our city’s biggest tragedies – Nirman started a petition for an overpass or underpass to go over the Fallowfield train tracks. Is it time to put that plan into action?