Current Problems: Health (18-24)

Exploring Stakeholder: "Government of Canada"

Updates on this page: 84
 

March 27, 2024


Top health officials acknowledge need to ‘refocus efforts’ on TB elimination

Nunavut Tunngavik skeptical current funding will be enough to reach elimination goals CBC Indigenous: Top federal health officials want to get tuberculosis elimination efforts “back on track” in Canada post-pandemic, as newly published data show already high rates among Inuit ticked up between 2021 and 2022. The Trudeau government and national organization Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami (ITK)...

March 18, 2024


Inuit leaders, MPs urge action on TB elimination as federal budget nears

TB rate among Inuit 676 times higher than among non-Indigenous, Canadian-born people CBC Indigenous: With the federal budget approaching, Inuit leaders and New Democrat MPs are urging the Trudeau government to tackle tuberculosis in Indigenous communities. Inuit in particular face a “staggering and unacceptable reality” of tuberculosis rates more than 300 times higher than Canadian-born non-Indigenous people,...

March 3, 2024


Cat Lake First Nation declares state of emergency after nursing station destroyed in fire

‘Building appears to be a total loss,’ says Nishnawbe Aski Police Service CBC News: Cat Lake First Nation’s nursing station has burned down, leaving the remote northwestern Ontario community without a central access point to health-care services. Nishnawbe Aski Police Service (NAPS) confirmed that a fire broke out at the Margaret Gray Nursing Station Saturday...

February 29, 2024


Victim of forced sterilization in Ottawa to push law that would penalize doctors

Senator’s private member’s bill aims to put an end to forced sterilizations. APTN News: Nicole Rabbit says she came to Ottawa to deliver a message for her mother. “She would have said ‘Someone has to be accountable for the act of genocide that we Indigenous people have faced and continue to face in regards to...

February 28, 2024


Environmentalists push the federal government on complete ban on ‘forever chemicals’

‘Our health is being compromised,’ says Inuk health research advisor. Lucy Grey at the news conference on Parliament Hill Wednesday. Photo: Kerry Slack/APTN.  APTN News: Health officials and scientists are calling on the federal government to issue a complete ban on substances known as “forever chemicals.” These chemicals, officially called PFAS, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances—are part...

February 16, 2024


Grassy Narrows chief calls out feds amid ‘ridiculous’ delays to mercury treatment centre construction

Trudeau said ‘money is not the objection’ to building the centre during 2019 election debate CBC Indigenous: The chief of Grassy Narrows is calling out the federal government as a long-promised mercury poisoning treatment centre for the northern Ontario First Nation remains beset by delays tied to federal funding uncertainty. Eight months have passed since Indigenous Services Minister...

February 5, 2024


Burnell Place offers safe stay to patients from remote First Nations in Manitoba

CBC Indigenous: A recently opened lodge in Winnipeg’s West End is offering First Nations people who’ve come to the city for medical services a family-oriented alternative to staying in hotels. Burnell Place opened last October in the former Kivalliq Inuit Centre building on Burnell Street. Many First Nations people come to Winnipeg for medical services...

January 26, 2024


Marlborough Hotel video sparks calls for better accommodations

Click on the following link view the video: https://winnipeg.ctvnews.ca/indigenous-leaders-demand-better-accommodations-for-those-travelling-to-winnipeg-for-medical-care-1.6744482 First Peoples Law Report: CTV News Winnipeg – Leaders are demanding better accommodations for those travelling from remote First Nations to Winnipeg for medical care. Cockroaches, bed bugs and mice are just some of the conditions patients face in hotels designated for their stays in the...

December 28, 2023


Homes in four Ontario First Nations have dangerous levels of carbon dioxide, mould 

A welcome sign for the Lac Seul First Nation west of Sioux Lookout, Ont., on April 24, 2018. File photo by The Canadian Press/Colin Perkel  THE FIGHT AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE TAKES MANY HANDS, AND ALL OF US ARE BETTER EQUIPPED WHEN WE’RE INFORMED.  Goal: $125k $98,930 Donate Canada’s National Observer: A study has found air...

December 13, 2023


Indigenous people in remote communities may not see much benefit from national dental care plan

If there are no services in your community, more money doesn’t matter, says pediatric dentist CBC Indigenous: The co-founder of the Indigenous Dental Association of Canada says along with expanding coverage, the federal government needs to be improving access to dental care for those who live in remote communities to keep oral health gaps from widening.  “Unless we’re dealing with the issues...

December 13, 2023


Wequedong Lodge in Thunder Bay says it’s headed toward bankruptcy

Too many clients, not enough capacity to meet needs, says executive director CBC News: A lodge that houses First Nations people from across northern Ontario who travel to Thunder Bay, Ont., for medical treatment is headed toward bankruptcy, according to its executive director. Wequedong Lodge is a 110-bed facility that has been over capacity for years....

November 28, 2023


Global Ozempic shortage affects First Nations people with diabetes

Health Canada says Ozempic shortages could last until March 2024 CBC News: The global shortage of the diabetes medication Ozempic has diabetics like Eleanor Michael from Sipekne’katik worried about finding alternatives. Ozempic has seen a skyrocketing global demand, in part due to prescriptions related to weight loss. Michael, whose Mi’kmaw community is about 50 kilometres northwest of Halifax, was diagnosed with diabetes earlier this year...

November 16, 2023


First Nations adults with disabilities living on reserve lack equal access to services, report finds

On-reserve services ‘underfunded, under-resourced and understaffed,’ report says  CBC Indigenous: Jennifer Bercier says “an invisible line with a huge barrier” separates Manitoba First Nations like hers from the rest of the province, after her daughter lost all of her disability support and services upon turning 18. The mother from Opaskwayak Cree Nation says the disability...

November 7, 2023


Trip south for medical treatment takes young Inuk mother away from her Grise Fiord community for a month

The challenges faced by Leah Audlaluk outlines the difficulties of northern medical travel APTN News: Imagine leaving your house for a doctor’s appointment and not getting home for almost a month. According to Leah Audlaluk, this is a normal occurrence for herself and others in the remote communities of Grise Fiord who leave for medical...

September 15, 2023


How the legacy of Canada’s tuberculosis sanatoriums haunts public health efforts in Pangnirtung

Officials battling the disease must contend with trauma caused by their predecessors and new challenges too CBC Indigenous: Sixty-five years ago, tuberculosis left Nancy Anilniliak with an invisible scar. In 1958, when she was five, Anilniliak was taken from her family in Pangnirtung and transported all by herself to a sanatorium in Hamilton, Ont., aboard...

September 14, 2023


Tuberculosis screening clinic to open in Pangnirtung, Nunavut

Clinic will operate until Dec. 1 in community dealing with TB outbreak since 2021 CBC Indigenous: Nearly two years after the government of Nunavut declared a tuberculosis outbreak in Pangnirtung, a community-wide screening clinic will open in the community of 1,500.  Jointly funded to an amount of up to $4 million by the federal and territorial governments...

September 13, 2023


Staggering mental health, addiction stats push northern First Nations to call for emergency declaration

Band members 6 times more likely to be hospitalized for mental health, addictions than rest of Ontario CBC Indigenous: Chiefs of First Nations in northern Ontario are calling for a public emergency and social crisis to be declared, emphasizing the disproportionate mental health and addictions issues facing their communities compared to the rest of the province....

September 12, 2023


Racism partly to blame for unequal health care provided to Indigenous women: PHAC study

Indigenous communities are still deeply affected by the 2020 death of Atikamekw woman Joyce Echaquan in a Quebec hospital, where she filmed staff insulting her as she lay dying, Lee Clark said. The Canadian Press/Paul Chiasson NationTalk: Racism and the lack of primary care providers mean off-reserve First Nations, Metis and Inuit women and girls...

September 7, 2023


Pimicikamak Cree Nation worries it won’t have enough staff to run new health centre

First Nation’s leaders say nursing station running with less than half of staff it needs Manitoba First Nation struggles to find staff for new health centre: Duration 1:38 Pimicikamak Cree Nation is pleading for more government support for health care. The community in Cross Lake says it’s struggling with few local health services and a severe...

September 4, 2023


Searching for solace a year after tragedy in James Smith Cree Nation

Members of First Nation look for ways to heal 1 year after mass stabbings in Saskatchewan CBC News: Rickety wheels slice through the undisturbed gravel of the race track in Prince Albert, Sask. A man in a cowboy hat declares that the first chariot race will start soon. After donning helmets, vests and a need for...

August 28, 2023


Barriers like racism, distrust may be main cause of health-care disparities for Indigenous women, study says

National study quantifying health-care inequities is 1st of its kind, lead author says Brishti Basu · CBC News · Posted: Aug 28, 2023 4:27 PM EDT | Last Updated: August 29 CBC News: Just before Tina Campbell had a minor medical procedure recently, she remembered the discrimination she says she felt while trying to access health care nearly two decades...

August 27, 2023


Indigenous females face more hurdles in health care access, study finds 

The Globe and Mail: New research confirms what many Indigenous women have known all along: First Nations, Inuit and Métis females face many disparities in accessing health care. A study, led by the Public Health Agency of Canada and published in the CMAJ on Monday, found that First Nations, Inuit and Métis females have less access...

August 8, 2023


‘Very little’ government help for 11 Man. First Nations months after declaring state of emergency

Government approved $300,000 in extra funding but chief says that’s not enough CBC News: More than four months after declaring a state of emergency First Nations in Manitoba say the current federal support offered fails to address numerous long-term issues in their communities. The Keewatin Tribal Council — representing 11 communities spread throughout northern Manitoba — declared a state of emergency...

July 22, 2023


Inuit elders making historic healing journey from Nunavut to Hamilton’s former sanatorium

1,200 Inuit were forced to stay at Sanatorium on the Mountain for tuberculosis treatment CBC News: Over a dozen Inuit elders are making a historic healing journey to Hamilton this weekend to revisit the former sanatorium site where they were held in isolation and endured psychological abuse in the 1950s and ’60s.  Naomi Tatty helped organize...

July 6, 2023


Tuberculosis numbers increasing in Nunavik communities

5 communities have outbreaks; 58 cases in total this year CBC News: An annual music festival was postponed due to a tuberculosis outbreak in northern Quebec, as the Nunavik region grapples with a series of outbreaks in several communities. Salluit’s festival was supposed to start June 29, but will now happen in the fall. Salluit resident Ida...

June 26, 2023


Considerations for collecting data on race and Indigenous identity during health card renewal across Canadian jurisdictions

Andrew D. Pinto, Azza Eissa, Tara Kiran, Angela Mashford-Pringle, Allison Needham and Irfan DhallaCMAJ June 26, 2023 195 (25) E880-E882; DOI: https://doi.org/10.1503/cmaj.221587 KEY POINTS Canada’s health care systems do not routinely collect self-reported race and Indigenous identity data and often lack a standardized and consistent approach to data collection that would permit comparisons between organizations or jurisdictions. Collecting racial and Indigenous identity data is necessary for...

June 20, 2023


Grassy Narrows chief questions federal commitment to mercury care home amid delays, soaring costs

Facility could now require an estimated $80M to build — 3 times what was initially pledged CBC News: More than three years after the Canadian government agreed to fund a in-community mercury poisoning care home for Grassy Narrows First Nation, construction hasn’t started, estimated costs are skyrocketing, and the chief is questioning the prime minister’s commitment. “It makes...

June 5, 2023


Indigenous coalition urges Canada’s healthcare system to ‘Rise Above Racism’

NationTalk: themessage. Who: A coalition of Indigenous health organizations (First Nations Health Managers Association, First Peoples Wellness Circle and Thunderbird Partnership Foundation); with NationTalk for strategy, creative and media (supported by Cleansheet Communications). What: “Rise Above Racism,” a new government-funded awareness campaign highlighting the issue of anti-Indigenous racism within the Canadian healthcare system. This is the second...

June 1, 2023


They say Canada’s health system is broken. But can First Nations leaders create a new one in the shadow of colonialism?

“We’ve been very clear with Canada that any federal health legislation that moves forward must recognize the Treaty and Inherent Right to health,” says Vice Chief David Pratt Toronto Star: First Nations leaders are wrestling with what the future of Indigenous health care should look like as they piece together legislation meant to deal with...

May 23, 2023


The Treaty Right to Health and the Legacy of the Indian Health Policy (1979)

Contemporary Legislative and Policy Considerations EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This document provides a succinct overview of the health-related legal and policy frameworks that frame and limit the potential for self-determination and self-government of First Nations people. This review is informed by recent developments such as the report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and the associated Calls...

May 12, 2023


More than 6 years later, Moses Beaver’s means of death ‘undetermined’, inquest jury finds

Jury delivers 63 recommendations focused on improving mental health care for Indigenous people WARNING: This story discusses mental distress and suicide. CBC News: The jury overseeing the inquest into the death of Moses Beaver has deemed the means of his death to be undetermined — which is the finding his family was hoping for. The...

April 25, 2023


Mikisew Cree First Nation declares state of local emergency following multiple suicides

‘We can feel the grief amongst the people, the hurt,’ says Chief Billy-Joe Tuccaro CBC News: A First Nation in northern Alberta has declared a state of local emergency following a string of suicide and suicide attempts among community members.  The Mikisew Cree First Nation says immediate medical intervention is needed in Fort Chipewyan, Alta.,...

April 17, 2023


COVID-19 pandemic stalled progress on eliminating tuberculosis among Inuit: officials

CTV News: Nunavut’s health minister says the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted efforts to eliminate tuberculosis in Inuit communities, and questions remain over whether targets to stamp out the disease can be met. “COVID has had a huge impact on every area of health care, and that includes TB,” said John Main. “While we were putting so much effort...

April 16, 2023


The painful legacy of tuberculosis in Canada’s North

Historical trauma and distrust in health-care system persist among many Inuit people today A History of Colonial Human Rights Violations Toronto Star: Joshua Idlout has never had tuberculosis, but the disease has cast a long shadow over much of his life. As a six or seven-year-old Inuk boy passing through Resolute Bay, the second northernmost...

April 12, 2023


Staffing shortages in northern Manitoba nursing stations a ‘life or death’ matter, advocate says

Indigenous Services Canada says it’s working to recruit and retain nurses  CBC News: A shortage of nurses across the country is hitting hard in remote and northern First Nations like Pimicikamak Cree Nation in Manitoba, where nursing stations are typically the only place people can access health care close to home. Chief David Monias said the nursing station in Pimicikamak...

April 11, 2023


Analysis of anti-Indigenous racism in hospitals reveals pattern of harm, no tracking mechanism

Canada’s National Observer: “Sakihitowin means love,” Pearl Gambler says, recalling the day she gave her daughter her name.  It was the day Sakihitowin was born — and died. From Bigstone Cree Nation, Gambler entered Edmonton’s Misericordia Hospital on June 11, 2020, and experienced a series of events that she can only characterize as traumatic and...

April 4, 2023


Anti-racism policies in health care should be led by Indigenous staff: report

Federal report blasts anti-Indigenous racism in health care CBC News: More Indigenous practitioners are needed to address systemic racism, but that can’t happen without a supportive education system that also envisions them in leadership roles, says a report commissioned by Health Canada and touted as the first comprehensive review of the health-care workforce. The report, released...

April 3, 2023


Northern Manitoba chiefs call for immediate federal action on health-care crisis

Recent deaths linked to inadequate medical care include mother of 5 from Manto Sipi Cree Nation, chief says CBC News: A group of Manitoba chiefs is calling for immediate action from the federal government to address what they call a health-care crisis causing preventable deaths on northern First Nations in the province. That action needs...

April 3, 2023


Budget erred by suggesting Ottawa backing away from Inuit TB eradication, minister says

ITK president worried about meeting 2030 goal to eliminate TB in Inuit Nunangat CBC News: The Indigenous services minister says the Liberal government made a mistake in the federal budget by appearing to back away from its promise to eradicate tuberculosis in Inuit communities. In the document released last week, the government announced $16.2 million...

March 27, 2023


Alberta has 8 Métis settlements. None of them have full-time doctors

Health board pushing for more doctors, nurses and other health-care providers CBC News: Every Wednesday, a registered nurse travels 39 kilometres from the northeastern Alberta city of Cold Lake to see patients on the Elizabeth Métis Settlement. Alberta Health Services rents an office inside the settlement’s community hall for appointments. A counter near the door...

March 23, 2023


Northern B.C. First Nations say they need more resources to deal with the illicit drug crisis

Distance a barrier to accessing addictions treatment, say communities Members of B.C.’s most northern communities are saying they need more resources to deal with the impacts of the province’s drug crisis, at a forum in Prince George, B.C., this week. More than 200 First Nations leaders and health-care workers met to talk about harm reduction,...

February 22, 2023


Provinces lag behind Ottawa in offering crucial supports to those who’ve been switched at birth

The Globe and Mail: A man who was the first known switched-at-birth case in Manitoba says if it weren’t for the independent review and mental-health support ordered by the federal government, his life would’ve fallen apart. Luke Monias of Garden Hill First Nation said he would likely be unemployed and struggling with addiction. “I wouldn’t be...

February 7, 2023


First Nations leaders pan Trudeau letter ducking request for seat at health-care talks

PM pledged to advocate for Indigenous partners to be included in health-care talks but didn’t extend invite CBC News: First Nations leaders are denouncing the prime minister’s pledge to advocate for Indigenous people during health-care talks with premiers this week — offered in lieu of an actual seat at the table — as an insult. An exchange of letters...

February 4, 2023


Doug Cuthand: First Nations’ right to health care is being compromised

Health care is a right that has been steadily eroded and integrated into the mainstream health system.  Saskatoon StarPhoenix: Our relationship with the federal and provincial governments is under threat even though our treaty rights are recognized in the Canadian constitution and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples that has been...

January 30, 2023


RSV is still a threat, especially in Canada’s North. But new treatments and vaccines are on the way

“We’ve known for a long time that Inuit babies have four to eight times the rate of hospital admission due to RSV, compared to the premature babies or the cardiac babies” with RSV, Banerji said. In the Arctic, the peak is usually February/March to June. One doctor is calling for an expedited review of a...

January 25, 2023


First Nations groups upset with exclusion from health-care funding talks

‘There is no reconciliation for First Nations when we continue to be excluded from these crucial discussions’ CBC News: First Nations groups are criticizing their exclusion from an upcoming meeting between federal, provincial and territorial governments aiming to reach a funding deal to improve the country’s ailing health-care system. The Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations...

December 15, 2022


When their child’s doctor is 2,800 km away, Inuit families face tough choices

Nunavut mother says some Inuit who leave territory for health care don’t return CBC News: Medical travel between the remote community of Clyde River, Nunavut, and Ottawa has been an essential, but difficult journey for Tina Kuniliusie and her 14-year-old daughter Tijay. The toll has been high and after almost a decade and a half of...

December 2, 2022


Government of Canada announces nearly $10 million to support Indigenous communities address substance-related harms

Improving health outcomes for Indigenous people at risk of substance-related harms and overdose across Canada Health Canada: The ongoing effects of colonialism and institutional racism are closely linked to the disproportionate harms that the overdose crisis and increasingly toxic drug supply have had on Indigenous Peoples. The Government of Canada is committed to addressing these...

November 24, 2022


The Impact of Inaction – New Publication Reveals Not All of Canada is on Track to Meet Global Hepatitis C Elimination Goal

Timing of elimination of the hepatitis C virus (HCV) in Canada’s provinces indicates 70% of provinces could reach the World Health Organization’s (WHO) HCV elimination target of 2030, however three of Canada’sprovinces — two of them the most populous in the country — are off track to achieve this hepatitis C elimination goal.1 Timely elimination would save 170...

November 17, 2022


Medical advice shouldn’t be different for Indigenous kids

The Globe and Mail: Tony Talaga – When the COVID-19 pandemic first struck, remote and northern Indigenous communities – which already lacked doctors, properly stocked and supplied health clinics and clean running water – had to scramble. First Nations leaders had to create public-health systems out of thin air. And in Northern Ontario, it seemed...

November 2, 2022


‘Pandemic of suffering:’ Manitoba chiefs press governments to fund regional hospital

Toronto Star: Chiefs of four remote First Nations in northeastern Manitoba are calling for the provincial and federal governments to build a health facility that can treat ongoing mental health and addiction crises for their growing populations. The chiefs from the Island Lake region estimate 15,000 to 18,000 people live in the area, but none...

October 13, 2022


How stereotypes led to the deaths of two Indigenous men in Thunder Bay police custody: expert

CTV News: A physician with expertise in Indigenous health care told a coroner’s inquest Wednesday that she heard stereotypes kick in from the first 9-1-1 call that led to a man being arrested for public intoxication before he died from medical conditions in Thunder Bay police custody hours later. Dr. Suzanne Shoush testified as an...

October 12, 2022


Call for Restructuring Medical Transportation System After Delayed Medical Response for First Nation Infant

NationTalk: Treaty One Territory, Manitoba – The Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs (AMC) and the Assembly of First Nations Manitoba (AFN) issued the following statement after an infant was not given prompt transportation from Pimicikamak Cree Nation to Winnipeg for emergency care. The ill infant waited 24 hours after triage at the nursing station because Medevac...

October 12, 2022


Nations of Blackfoot Confederacy File Claim Against Alberta Persons with Development Disabilities

NationTalk: On September 1, 2022, the Siksika Chief and Council, on behalf of Siksika Nation, Kainai Nation (Blood Tribe) and Piikani Nation, filed a complaint against Indigenous Services Canada (ISC) for systemic discrimination against adult members of the Blackfoot Nations living with developmental disabilities through the Persons with Developmental Disabilities (PDD) program.  The Claim has...

October 5, 2022


New Reports Reaffirm Trends of Poor Health Outcomes and Under-Funded System for First Nations

Under the direction of the Chiefs-in-Assembly, Sioux Lookout First Nations Health Authority (SLFNHA) has released its Diabetes and Childhood Vaccination Coverage reports. The reports highlight the disproportionate burden of health outcomes and health inequities within northern First Nations. SLFNHA calls for improved resources to support diabetes and vaccination programs. “We are calling on the Federal...

September 28, 2022


Ministers Honour Joyce Echaquan and Re-Affirm Commitment to Addressing Anti-Indigenous Racism in Canada’s Health Systems

Indigenous Services Canada: Ottawa, Ontario (September 28, 2022) – The Minister of Indigenous Services, Patty Hajdu, the Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations, Marc Miller, and the Minister of Health, Jean-Yves Duclos, issued the following statement today: “Health care is a human right, and should be free of racism and discrimination. But the systemic discrimination and racism that...

September 11, 2022


James Smith Cree Nation chief calls for drug treatment centres in wake of knife attacks

Crystal meth addiction is rampant in community, support needed, leaders say CBC: The chief of James Smith Cree Nation and other Indigenous leaders are calling on the provincial and federal governments to fund on-reserve addiction treatment centres following the horrific stabbing rampage on the Saskatchewan First Nation and neighbouring town of Weldon. “We’ve got to protect our...

September 6, 2022


The beast of addiction in Indigenous communities remains untamed

Globe & Mail: Tanya Talaga – Over the past week, a Thunder Bay hotel’s conference room has become home to a land-based healing and recovery program. There, 17 women from one northern First Nation about two hours down the highway – women who are addicted to opioids, alcohol, crystal methamphetamine (jib) and/or methadone, which is...

August 8, 2022


New Brunswick Aboriginal Peoples Council calls for equal access to health supports for all Indigenous people

NationTalk: Fredericton, Revised – The New Brunswick Aboriginal Peoples Council has, once again, been confronted by the federal government’s discrimination against our members. This time, the federal government’s discrimination takes the form of denying Indigenous people who live off reserves and non-status Indigenous people access to health benefits that the federal government provides to reserve...

July 22, 2022


CMA condemns forced and coerced sterilization

In response to the Standing Senate Committee on Human Rights’ report The Scars that We Carry: Forced and Coerced Sterilization of Persons in Canada – Part II Opens in a new window, the Canadian Medical Association (CMA) unequivocally denounces the practices of forced and coerced sterilization. As the report details, forced and coerced sterilization have...

July 11, 2022


Canada needs to implement pandemic preparedness in dealing with TB

The goal to eliminate TB by 2030 can happen if lessons learned from COVID are implemented. This includes investing in health and telemedicine. Policy Options: by Elizabeth Rea,  Tina Campbell,  Petra Heitkamp Because of the pandemic, tuberculosis deaths globally have increased for the first time in over a decade. Concerning considering that before COVID, TB was the leading...

July 11, 2022


First Nations Health Managers Association to launch “RISE Against Racism” campaign

Akwesasne, Traditional Mohawk Territory, Ontario — Indigenous Services Canada: Accessing quality health services can be a stressful experience. Anti-Indigenous racism in Canada’s health systems, such as discriminatory language in interactions with patients and negative stereotyping that influences care decisions, can have a negative impact on health outcomes. That is why the First Nations Health Managers...

January 6, 2022


Bearskin Lake COVID Crisis

Toronto Star – Last week Bearskin Lake declared a state of emergency due to the high number of COVID-19 cases in the community. On Monday morning Chief Lefty Kamenawatamin issued a press release requesting the Government of Canada provide military assistance for the beleaguered community: “Currently, the majority of households are under quarantine and require...

June 30, 2021


Jordan’s Principle Funding

The Matawa Education and Care Centre (MECC), – formerly, the ‘Matawa Learning Centre,’ yesterday released their report entitled ‘Matawa Education and Care Centre 5th Annual Report on the Seven Youth Inquest – Academic 2020-2021.’ For the first time—it included an alert regarding MECC’s potential inability to meet inquest recommendations 64, 71, 81, 83, 84, 85,...

May 25, 2021


COVID-19 Health resources

Healthy Debates – “Indigenous health services often hampered by legislative confusion“. The federal and provincial governments negotiate health transfers based on the Canada Health Act, which specifies the conditions and criteria required of provincial health insurance programs. It doesn’t mention First Nations and Inuit peoples, Métis and non-status or off-reserve Indigenous peoples who are covered...

January 28, 2021


Emergency Meeting on Indigenous Health

Assembly of First Nations – AFN National Chief Perry Bellegarde reiterated recommendations and called for urgency in addressing systemic racism in Canada’s health care systems at a two-day virtual meeting with federal, provincial and territorial ministers and Metis and Inuit leaders that ended today. The meeting, convened by Indigenous Services Minister Marc Miller, Crown-Indigenous Relations...

January 28, 2021


Racism against Indigenous womern

Native Women’s Association of Canada – At a two-day meeting at which the issue of anti-Indigenous racism in Canada’s healthcare systems will be addressed by federal, provincial, and territorial governments as well as representatives of the First Nations, Métis and Inuit, NWAC is not being permitted to give more broadly based opening remarks Wednesday, along...

November 19, 2020


Problems with Indigenous COVID-19 data

Toronto Star – COVID-19 is negatively impacting both on-reserve and off-reserve Indigenous populations. “Hospitalizations and intensive-care rates are sky high for off-reserve populations and testing is low. Both on and off reserves, about 18% of tests come back positive. The issues identified by Janet Smylie, research chair in Indigenous health knowledge and information at Well...

November 12, 2020


Systemic Racism at federal, provincial, territory ministers human rights meeting

NationTalk – 24 civil society groups attending the third ever meeting of Federal, Provincial, Territory Ministers responsible for human rights “condemned the obstructive attitude of some governments” in advancing international human rights obligations. Groups had pressed governments to commit to nation-wide law reform that will legally require governments to adopt a collaborative, accountable, consistent, transparent,...

November 2, 2020


Canada’s Constitution embeds discrimination

Policy Options – Canada’s history of colonization has laid the foundation for the implementation of racist health policy and the delivery of culturally unsafe health care, resulting in health disparities that are disproportionately experienced by Indigenous Peoples. Since the establishment of the Indian Act in 1867, Canada’s Constitution has continued to support and maintain discriminatory...

October 21, 2020


Food Insecurity

The Narwhal – Human Rights Watch released “My fear is Losing Everything: Climate Crisis and First Nations’ Right to Food” in Canada. The report details how longer and more intense forest fire seasons, permafrost degradation, volatile weather patterns and increased levels of precipitation are all affecting wildlife habitat and, in turn, harvesting efforts. The report...

October 16, 2020


Emergency Meeting on Indigenous Health

Emergency meeting on racism in Canada’s healthcare system. AFN recommendations to all levels of government: Work directly with First Nations to ensure that Indigenous Peoples feel safe accessing health care services. Quebec needs to work with First Nations to fully implement the Viens Commission Report’s recommendations. Canada must conduct an immediate review of the Canada...

October 15, 2020


Canada Health Act fails Inuit

Pauktuutit Women of Canada – President Kudloo calls for additional funding to improve health determinants for Inuit women and girls and a focus on youth to increase Inuit health providers. She will also will highlight how the Canada Health Act is failing Inuit women and girls when she participates in a national meeting to address...

September 29, 2020


Beyond Hunger – The Hidden Impacts of Food Insecurity in Canada”

Community Food Centres (CFC) – Release of “Beyond Hunger – The Hidden Impacts of Food Insecurity in Canada”. Even before COVID-19, food insecurity affected nearly 4.5 million Canadians. In the first two months of the pandemic, that number grew by 39 per cent. Food insecurity now affects one in seven people, disproportionately impacting low-income and...

September 8, 2020


Unicef “Innocenti Report Card 16”

NationTalk – Release of Unicef “Innocenti Report Card 16: Worlds of Influence – Understanding What Shapes Child Well-being in Rich Countries” where Canada placed in the bottom 10 of 38 countries. In fact, all four countries with large Indigenous populations – who all initially opposed The United Nations Declaration the Rights of Indigenous People –...

May 12, 2020


“Colonialism of the Curve: Indigenous Communities and Bad Covid Data”.

Yellowhead Institute – release of Policy Brief: “Colonialism of the Curve: Indigenous Communities and Bad Covid Data”. There is wide discrepancy on COVID-19 related health data from Indigenous Services Canada (ISC) and provincial health authorities: There is no agency or organization in Canada reliably recording and releasing Covid-19 data that indicates whether or not a person...

April 23, 2020


Release of at-risk Indigenous inmates

The Indigenous Bar Association (IBA)– Calls Upon Federal, Provincial and Territorial Justice Ministers and Attorneys General to Immediately Release low-risk Indigenous Inmates over COVID-19.Specifically, we call for the immediate release of incarcerated Indigenous people and the following actions: Immediately and minimally, carry-out the release of Indigenous inmates that are low-risk, non-violent, nearly eligible for parole,...

April 20, 2020


Incarcerated prisoners

First Nations leadership across BC is united in calling for immediate action to protect incarcerated peoples amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. The COVID-19 outbreak at the Mission Institution is now the third largest outbreak in the Province of BC, with the first inmate tragically passing away on April 15, 2020. Senior health and corrections officials have...

March 17, 2020


H1N1 and Systemic Racism

Globe and Mail – Despite accounting for just under 5 per cent of the Canadian population, Indigenous people were 25 per cent of those admitted to ICUs during the first wave of H1N1. First Nations children were 21 per cent of the paediatric patients admitted to ICUs during both waves. This led to sad and...

October 23, 2019


Declaration of Public Health Emergency

Nishnawbe Aski Nation (NAN) Resolution 16/04 Call for Declaration of Public Health Emergency. NAN is a political territorial organization representing 49 First Nation communities within northern Ontario with the total population of membership (on and off reserve) around 45,000 people. The Sioux Lookout Chiefs Committee on Health and the NAN Executive declared a Health and...

December 10, 2018


Forced Sterilizations

72 organizations endorse the joint statement from Amnesty International Canada, the Native Women’s Association of Canada, and Action Canada for Sexual Health and Rights, calling for government action to #DefendConsent and end #ForcedSterilization of Indigenous women in Canada Canadian Press – All the women interviewed felt that the health system had not served their needs,...

November 22, 2018


Call for national investigation into forced sterilizations

Senator Murray Sinclair, former Chair of the TRC, says Canada needs a national investigation to find out how common coerced sterilizations are among Indigenous women and how they’ve been allowed to continue for so long. http://nationtalk.ca/story/usw-joint-statement-calling-on-canada-to-end-sterilization-without-consent...

September 21, 2017


Canada Health Act flaws

Healthy Debates – “Indigenous health services often hampered by legislative confusion“. The federal and provincial governments negotiate health transfers based on the Canada Health Act, which specifies the conditions and criteria required of provincial health insurance programs. It doesn’t mention First Nations and Inuit peoples, Métis and non-status or off-reserve Indigenous peoples who are covered...

July 14, 2016


Fire protection on reserves

NationTalk – There is no national fire protection code that mandates fire safety standards or enforcement on reserves. All other jurisdictions in Canada including provinces, territories, and other federal jurisdictions (such as military bases, airports, and seaports) have established building and fire codes. The Aboriginal Firefighters Association of Canada (AFAC), NIFSC’s parent organization, supports the...

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