Current Problems:
Exploring Theme: "Systemic Racism"
Updates on this page: 100
(Filtered by Indigenous Group "Inuit")
April 18, 2024
Ontario Human Rights Commission announces development of policy to address Indigenous-specific discrimination in Ontario’s healthcare system
NationTalk: TORONTO — Today, the Ontario Human Rights Commission (OHRC) announced its commitment to work with Indigenous partners to develop human rights policy guidance to address and combat long-standing and widespread Indigenous-specific discrimination in Ontario’s healthcare system. The OHRC’s policy guidance will: To inform this guidance, the OHRC will meet with Indigenous health professionals, organizations,...
April 3, 2024
Nunavut family speaks out after 8-year-old given tuberculosis medication meant for another child
Child was given five doses of tuberculosis medication in three months without parents knowing CBC Indigenous: When Jaffar Gebara found out that his eight-year-old daughter was being given medication for sleeping tuberculosis at her school, he was shocked. Even more shocking was that his daughter didn’t have tuberculosis. “I’m sad that I let my daughter...
January 30, 2024
Inquiry examining treatment of Innu in provincial child welfare system wraps up formal hearings in Sheshatshiu
APTN News: The public inquiry focusing on the history of Labrador’s child protection system and the health and well-being of the Innu children and families has wrapped up in Sheshatshiu, Labrador, for now. The inquiry, looking into the treatment, experiences, and outcomes of those children, is being held after years of lobbying by the Innu...
November 22, 2023
First Nations Children in Quebec Deserve Better
NationTalk: Wendake — On the occasion of Early Childhood Week, the First Nations of Quebec and Labrador Health and Social Services Commission (FNQLHSSC), in collaboration with the Observatoire des tout-petits, is unveiling the results of a survey carried out among the Quebec population by the Léger firm. The results confirm that concerted actions must continue with a...
November 13, 2023
Disturbing reality about our prisons
“Life, on the instalment plan.” Toronto Star: That’s the way some Indigenous inmates characterize their prison sentences. They believe they’ll be released, but they also expect to be back — again and again, for the rest of their lives. And all too often, their expectations are fulfilled. Something is therefore very wrong with our prison...
October 27, 2023
Inquiry community meetings end with optimism in Sheshatshiu Innu First Nation
Commissioners will be in Natuashish before holding formal hearings early in 2024 WARNING: This story contains distressing details. All stories were shared with consent of participants. NationTalk: CBC News – The Inquiry Respecting the Treatment, Experiences and Outcomes of Innu children in care has concluded its community meetings in Sheshatshiu Innu First Nation. For two weeks, Innu...
October 6, 2023
People accused of killing Indigenous women less likely to be charged with first-degree murder: study
Several factors from funding to distrust of colonial systems may contribute to the sentencing decisions APTN News: A report from Statistics Canada shows that there’s a disparity in the way homicide cases involving Indigenous women and girls are handled in the Canadian legal system. Data between 2009 and 2021 indicated that first-degree murder charges, the...
October 4, 2023
Child welfare lawsuit by Inuit that claims system is racist waiting for judge’s ruling
September hearing was held to decide if class action can go ahead. APTN News: Former Inuit wards of the state in Quebec are waiting for a judge to decide if their class action lawsuit against the province and the federal government will proceed. On Sept. 25 and 26, Quebec’s Superior Court heard Tanya Jones and second anonymous...
October 4, 2023
Years after scathing report into mistreatment of Indigenous people in Quebec, few calls to action imposed
1st update on commission published Wednesday CBC Indigenous: Nearly four years after Quebec’s Viens report documented the mistreatment of Indigenous people, less than a third of the calls to action laid out in the commission have been implemented or are progressing as expected. Quebec’s ombudsman, Marc-André Dowd, published the first update on the commission Wednesday,...
October 2, 2023
Breaking the Cycle: Confronting Healthcare Disparities for Indigenous Peoples in Canada
It’s time to bridge the inequalities Olivia Shan NationTalk: McGill Daily – The government of Canada has worked over the years to achieve reconciliation with Indigenous peoples through a restored engagement between nations, governments, the Inuit, and the Crown, stemming from an underlying basic acknowledgment of rights, respect, cooperation, and partnership as the cornerstone for...
September 30, 2023
This should be a day when Canada rededicates itself to seeking justice
Toronto Star: “Hubert O’Connor: Child Molester.” That’s how the Victoria Times Colonist headlined the obituary for Catholic bishop Hubert O’Connor. He worked at the St. Joseph’s Mission Residential School in Williams Lake, B.C., where he began a career as a serial rapist of young Indigenous girls. In 1996, he became the highest ranking Catholic official...
September 28, 2023
3 years after Joyce Echaquan’s death, loved ones reflect on what’s changed — and what hasn’t
Health board appealing ruling to reinstate orderly fired after Echaquan’s death CBC News: Three paintings of women wearing braids and purple headbands in their hair with the words “Justice for Joyce” adorn the windows outside the Centre d’amitié autochtone de Lanaudièrein Joliette. Sitting on the porch at the friendship centre Thursday morning, Lorraine Echaquan and Regine Dubé...
September 22, 2023
Indigenous veterans hold cleansing ceremony in Ottawa after Nazi flag appears on monument
APTN News: Indigenous veterans in Ottawa say they were disgusted with what they saw on social media after someone hung a flag with a swastika on the National Aboriginal Veterans Monument earlier in the week. “I will be very clear, the Nazi flag is a symbol of hatred and when I saw that, I saw...
September 13, 2023
Dissatisfaction grows among First Nations groups over Quebec Indigenous health-care bill
2nd day of committee hearings for Bill 32 sees walkout of Joyce’s Principle Office CBC Indigenous: The Joyce’s Principle Office walked out of a public hearing Wednesday morning held by a legislature committee reviewing a new bill that seeks to improve the treatment of Indigenous patients within Quebec’s health-care system. The office joined a growing chorus...
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...
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 25, 2023
Decision Of The Tribunal Administratif Du Travail: Insecurity Resurges Among First Nations
NationTalk: WENDAKE, QC, Aug. 25, 2023 – At a time when the Committee on Institutions of the National Assembly of Québec is preparing to begin its specific consultations on Bill 32, an Act to establish the cultural safety approach within the health and social services network, the decision rendered on Wednesday by the Tribunal administratif...
July 31, 2023
Québec’s cultural awareness training makes flawed assumptions that do not prioritize the safety of Indigenous people
NationTalk: The Conversation – Québec’s Minister Responsible for Relations with the First Nations and the Inuit, Ian Lafrenière, recently introduced Bill 32, which aims to “establish the cultural safety approach within the health and social services network.” The intent of the bill is for health and social service networks in Québec to adopt a cultural safety approach...
July 20, 2023
Indigenous people 17.7% more likely to be incarcerated in Sask.
Non-Indigenous people charged with crimes are more likely to receive bail than Indigenous people Jeremy Appel / Local Journalism Initiative Reporter / Alberta Native News Jul 20, 2023 10:00 PM NationTalk: Saskatoon Today: ALBERTA NATIVE NEWS — Saskatchewan has Canada’s highest rate of Indigenous over-representation in provincial custody, with Alberta in second place, according to new data...
June 13, 2023
Ontario land tribunal dismisses appeal against Inuit development in Ottawa
APTN News: Things appear to be back on track for the Larga Baffin development after Ontario’s land tribunal dismissed an appeal against the facility last week. “At the end of the day the objective is to build the facility to serve the people of Baffin Island and we’re really pleased for the community that this...
June 8, 2023
B.C. government fighting to keep birth alert records from public eye
On June 12 and 13, the B.C. Supreme Court is set to hear a dispute involving MCFD, IndigiNews and the province’s privacy commissioner. APTN News: A dispute over birth alert records involving British Columbia, IndigiNews and the province’s privacy commissioner is heading for the B.C. Supreme Court. B.C.’s Ministry of Children and Family Development (MCFD)...
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 3, 2023
Juliette Tapaquon’s tragic story exposes health-care inequality
NationTalk: Canada’s National Observer: Juliette Tapaquon spent her final months in unimaginable pain. It’s the thought that still keeps her mother, Joyce Tapaquon, up at night. A cervical cancer patient at Pasqua Hospital’s palliative care unit and a member of Carry the Kettle First Nation, Juliette was escorted out of the southern Saskatchewan hospital by...
May 28, 2023
Isolation cells in women’s prisons used almost exclusively for Indigenous prisoners, panel finds
The Globe and Mail: Isolation cells in federal women’s prisons are being used almost exclusively for Indigenous prisoners, according to statistics collated by a government-appointed panel that show Indigenous peoples are seriously disadvantaged by a prisoner segregation regimen introduced in 2019. The government established Structured Intervention Units (SIUs) after courts in B.C. and Ontario ruled that a...
May 25, 2023
Quebec judge awards $25K to Inuk woman ‘forgotten’ by youth protection authorities
In legal first, judge says cash is only way to try to rectify years of neglect CBC News: In a legal first, a Quebec Court judge has awarded cash compensation of $25,000 to a 19-year-old Inuk woman who was forgotten by the youth protection (DPJ) officials responsible for her care for nearly 15 years. In the judgment, rendered last...
May 15, 2023
Quebec sent Ottawa hospital hundreds of birth alerts despite Ontario ban
Hospital received 298 birth alerts since October 2020, when Ontario ended them CBC News: Despite the fact that Ontario put a stop to birth alerts in 2020, Quebec child welfare agencies continued to send hundreds of the controversial notifications — which can be used to threaten to or actually seize newborns from their mothers — to Ottawa’s largest hospital....
May 11, 2023
Opinion: To get Indigenous murder and suicide rates down, first face facts
Canadians need to agree on the hard fact of modern life that education is a prerequisite for economic success NationTalk: Financial Post – From 2017 through 2021, 1.45 non-Indigenous Canadians in 100,000 died from homicide. Among Indigenous Canadians the rate was six times that: 8.88 in 100,000. That average masks a stark regional difference, however....
May 9, 2023
Misprescribed and ‘Dumped’ at the Hospital’s Doors
Marilyn Johnson says she faced health-care discrimination because she is Indigenous and lives in the Downtown Eastside. Here’s what needs to change. The Tyee: Marilyn Johnson, a Gitxsan woman, is full of energy. The ends of her hair are dyed blue. She sips her Tim Hortons coffee and smiles from ear to ear when talking...
April 25, 2023
Indigenous girls overrepresented as victims of violence in Vancouver
Sgt. Val Spicer: “It’s not a trend that you can change overnight.” NationTalk: Vancouver is Awesome – Indigenous girls under 18 years old were the most overrepresented victims of violence in Vancouver over the past 12 months, according to new data compiled by the Vancouver Police Department (VPD). The next two groups of victims based...
April 21, 2023
Report calls on feds to strip $1B from Correctional Service of Canada budget
Prisoner’s Legal Services says money should be shifted towards community healing. APTN: A prisoner advocacy organization in British Columbia says the Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) should have a third of its budget stripped away and that money should be diverted towards Indigenous governments and organizations. In its report, Decarceration through Self-Determination, Prisoner’s Legal Services argues...
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 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 6, 2023
Lawyers want abduction charges stayed against Sask. woman, citing alleged human rights violations
Law professor says justice system continues to discriminate against Indigenous women CBC News: Lawyers for a Saskatchewan woman want the abduction and other charges against her to be stayed, citing alleged human rights violations including unnecessary strip searches and denial of medical care. In a court application, they list alleged individual violations against Dawn Walker, but say these...
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 2, 2023
74% of youth in care in Alberta are Indigenous. Here’s what 2 of them had to say
‘I strive to this day just to live a normal life,’ said Jesse Koenig, 28 CBC News:A new underground magazine circulating in Edmonton is sharing stories from youth in care — in their own words. Zine & Heard, edited by youth advocate Penny Frazier, shares stories, art, tattoos and more from former youth in care. ...
March 29, 2023
Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs (AMC) Expresses Concern Over First Nations Over-Incarceration Rates
NationTalk: Treaty One Territory, MB – The Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs (AMC) issues the following statement on the over-incarceration of First Nations Citizens in Manitoba. On March 17, 2023, the Winnipeg Free Press published an article about Ethan Wildcat, a First Nation man who was handed a harsher sentence then a non-First Nations man facing...
March 24, 2023
An Rx against racist behaviour in Alberta emergency departments
After years of studying systemic racism in hospital emergency care, a team of researchers and First Nations organizations will create ways to ensure all patients are treated equitably and with dignity. Nation Talk: University of Alberta: For the last six years, First Nations organizations have supported a team of researchers including Bonnie Healy and Patrick...
March 8, 2023
Alberta’s mandatory oath of allegiance is systemic discrimination
The government should amend the Legal Profession Act to remove it or to make it optional. First Peoples Law report: The Canadian Bar Association – In April 2022, the Law Society of Alberta acknowledged that systemic discrimination exists in the province’s justice system and legal profession. Two months later, a Sikh articling student launched a lawsuit, challenging...
March 5, 2023
‘Really worrisome’: Survey suggests some Alberta doctors have anti-Indigenous biases
Toronto Star: Two University of Calgary researchers weren’t surprised when their survey of Alberta doctors showed biases against Indigenous patients, but they were shocked by some of the comments. Pamela Roach and Shannon Ruzycki sent a survey in September 2020 to every licensed doctor in the province to determine their biases following high-profile deaths of...
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 17, 2023
Colonial governments continue to destroy Innu land and traditional culture, says longtime activist and elder
Innu are treated badly by police, nurses, and doctors, says Innu elder CBC News: Mistreatment of Innu people by colonial governments continues today, said an elder and activist who has fought for decades to protect the Innu’s traditional culture and land in Labrador. “I will start on how we have been treated by the white man,...
February 13, 2023
‘These are real people’: NDP MP slams Correctional Service Canada over systemic racism
Canada’s National Observer: On Thursday, the NDP MP for Edmonton Griesbach spoke at a public accounts committee meeting after the release of an auditor general’s report on systemic barriers facing prisoners in federal jails. “(Correctional Service Canada) acknowledged in November 2020 that systemic racism is present in the correctional system; it’s long overdue that CSC remove the...
February 13, 2023
Mother files lawsuit alleging racist treatment led to beating death of Anishinaabe son at Headingley jail
Court filing alleges a dozen Manitoba corrections officers beat William Ahmo, shot objects at him WARNING: This story contains distressing details. CBC News: A Winnipeg mother is suing the province of Manitoba and corrections officers, claiming racist treatment and excessive force after she says the Anishinaabe father was shot at with objects and beaten by...
February 13, 2023
Governor General’s office closes social media comments after a wave of hateful remarks
Rideau Hall says comments have been ‘abusive, misogynistic and racist’ in nature CBC News: The office of Canada’s Governor General says it is turning off comments on all of its social media accounts due to an influx of abusive comments and “violent threats.” A statement was posted on the Governor General’s Twitter account Monday that...
February 8, 2023
Indigenous man furious after mother put in ‘storage room’ after being discharged from Calgary hospital
NationTalk: Global News – An Indigenous man is furious after his mother was put in a “storage room” after she was diagnosed with terminal liver cancer. Bradford Mistakenchief’s mother was only given 18 months to live with the diagnosis. She was immediately put into palliative care at the Tom Baker Cancer Centre at Foothills Medical Centre in...
February 8, 2023
Mother found dead after sharing video about struggles with Manitoba’s child welfare system, domestic violence
Anishinaabe woman pleaded with people to ‘listen to me’ WARNING: This story contains distressing details. CBC News: Family and friends of a woman who died by suicide are looking for answers after the woman posted a live video on social media saying she was a victim of domestic violence and sharing the frustration and trauma...
February 2, 2023
Manitoba medical group apologizes to Indigenous people for racism
NationTalk: CHVN – 95.1FM – The organization that regulates medical care in Manitoba has apologized for racism directed toward Indigenous people when accessing health care. The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Manitoba says it recognizes its failure to effectively regulate the medical profession to prevent racist and substandard medical care to Indigenous peoples. Grand...
January 31, 2023
Quebec Education Minister’s Priorities: Bernard Drainville must intervene to decolonize education laws that undermine First Nations autonomy
WENDAKE, QC, Jan. 31, 2023 – On the occasion of the return to Parliament, the First Nations Education Council (FNEC) Chiefs Committee reacted coldly to the seven priorities that will guide the Minister of Education, Bernard Drainville, during the current mandate. “In his priorities, we would have liked to see Minister Drainville commit to integrating an eighth priority...
January 30, 2023
Mandatory Indigenous course at risk after group of lawyers aim to change Law Society rule
Vote to take place Monday and 11,100 Alberta lawyers eligible to register CBC News: The fate of a required Indigenous course for Alberta lawyers is at risk after a group petitioned the Law Society of Alberta (LSA) to remove a rule that allows the regulator to mandate legal education. Currently, all Alberta lawyers are required...
January 25, 2023
Fewer than half of Indigenous students graduate on time from Edmonton public high schools
83 per cent of Alberta students finish high school in 3 years, provincial reports show CBC News: Indigenous students in Edmonton continue to have lower high school graduation rates than their non-Indigenous peers. Annual education results reports, which include statistics from Alberta Education for 2021-22, show that more than 80 per cent of Edmonton public school and...
January 6, 2023
Sixties Scoop survivor reconnects with birth mom, discovers her culture, decades after separation
It took many years for the pair to develop a mother-daughter relationship WARNING: This story contains distressing details CBC News: Tauni Sheldon remembers the first time she saw her biological mom. Sheldon was 23 years old. It was 1993 and she was in the Winnipeg airport, having just flown in with her adoptive parents, Jim...
December 20, 2022
Province releases “Health Status of Manitobans Report”…the gap in health between Indigenous communities and other people is widening”
The life expectancy for First Nations people is 11 years lower than average and this gap is growing As of March 31, 2021 there were 9,8501 children in welfare service: 91 per cent of these children are Indigenous Premature Mortality Rate (PMR) for all First Nations in Manitoba is three times higher than for other Manitobans....
December 16, 2022
Systemic racism report calls for N.B. task force, not the inquiry sought by First Nations
Indigenous leaders say a public inquiry into systemic racism against Indigenous peoples is still needed CBC News: The province’s commissioner of systemic racism is calling for “a task force focused on dismantling systemic racism in New Brunswick policing” and more education for senior government officials and politicians “on the meaning of systemic racism.” But Commissioner Manju...
December 13, 2022
National Art Gallery’s decolonization strategy questioned after staffers abruptly dismissed
APTN News: It was not the meeting Greg Hill expected. “I go into it cold not expecting anything like that,” the former Indigenous art curator at the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa said. “I was anticipating a discussion I’ve wanted to have and trying to have for a long time. Trying to understand how we’re...
December 9, 2022
Panel to assess Indigenous patient care after the death of a young woman in St. Catharines
Heather Winterstein was only 24 years old when she felt ill and went to the emergency department at St. Catharines General Hospital for help, only to die from a treatable illness. One year later, Niagara Health announced it is beginning an external assessment of the emergency department (ED) to improve patient care and experiences for...
December 6, 2022
Race and Gender Discrimination Fuel Violence against Indigenous Women
NationTalk: Thunder Bay, ON – The National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women (White Ribbon Day) is a Canadian movement of men and boys working to end violence against women and girls, promote gender equity, healthy relationships and a new vision of masculinity. Indigenous women have the right to a future free from...
December 5, 2022
Native women’s association calls out Canada for doing little to stop genocide following killing of four women in Winnipeg
Canada’s National Observer: The Native Women’s Association of Canada (NWAC) is not mincing words following the killing of four Indigenous women in Winnipeg at the hands of one man. “Let’s be clear, these crimes are part of the genocide that was declared in 2019 by the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and...
December 2, 2022
Bill on cultural safety in health coming, Quebec says, following forced sterilizations study
Report is latest to scrutinize treatment of Indigenous people in Quebec health-care services Verity Stevenson · CBC News · Posted: Dec 02, 2022 7:30 PM ET | Last Updated: December 7 Update: This story has been updated following a ministry spokesperson’s assertion the bill would be introduced in early 2023, not during the current session as Indigenous Affairs Minister...
December 2, 2022
Alleged Winnipeg serial killer Jeremy Skibicki’s case will go straight to trial, without preliminary hearing
NationTalk: CBC: Treaty One Territory, Manitoba – The Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs (AMC) and Assembly of First Nations (AFN) Regional Office is saddened by the announcement that accused serial killer Jeremy Skibicki is being charged for the murder of two more First Nations women and one yet unidentified woman. In May 2022, the body of...
November 24, 2022
Publication of a research report on free and informed consent and imposed sterilizations among First Nations and Inuit women in Quebec
RECOMMENDATIONS Includes 9 from the participants in the study and 11 by the research team including the following: Professional bodies in the medical professions: Review the training offered to the medical profession on free and informed consent, particularly in the fields of obstetrics and gynecology. Ask the Collège des médecins du Québec to take note...
November 24, 2022
‘We’re survivors’: Quewezance sisters reunite at Saskatchewan court
APTN News: Despite the shackles on her wrists and ankles, Nerissa Quewezance leaned into her older sister’s arms Thursday. It was their first hug in 18 years. “My sister,” Odelia Quewezance said soothingly as she embraced Nerissa in front of the Yorkton, Sask., courthouse. The lone RCMP officer who transported Nerissa, 48, to Yorkton from...
November 18, 2022
National Gallery of Canada lays off chief and Indigenous art curators
The Globe and Mail: The National Gallery of Canada has laid off four senior staff members including Greg A. Hill, its curator of Indigenous art, and chief curator Kitty Scott. The gallery has experienced a period of uncertainty in the wake of the departure of director Sasha Suda in July. She left only a year after unveiling a strategic...
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 13, 2022
Statement from Premier Heather Stefanson and Indigenous Reconciliation and Northern Relations Minister Alan Lagimodiere on the Anniversary of the Death of Helen Betty Osborne
Today marks the anniversary of the tragic death of Helen Betty Osborne. Osborne was a 19-year-old student from Norway House Cree Nation who had dreams of becoming a teacher. A survivor of Guy Hill Residential School, Osborne chose to further her education through attending high school in The Pas. On the morning of Nov. 13,...
November 3, 2022
Cree woman suing Edmonton hospital for ‘failing to provide medical care’ in birth of her daughter
Said the hospital failed that racism and malpractice led to the death of her newborn baby APTN News: A member of Bigstone Cree First Nation in Alberta says she gave birth in an Edmonton hospital while a nurse watched and did nothing to help. In a statement of claim filed in the Court of King’s Bench in...
October 26, 2022
Anishinabek Nation leadership encourage implementation of recommendations in Devon Freeman inquest
NationTalk: ANISHINABEK NATION HEAD OFFICE (October 25, 2022) – On behalf of the Anishinabek Nation, Grand Council Chief Reg Niganobe and Anishinabek Nation Children’s Commissioner Duke Peltier have issued a statement in response to the long-awaited inquest into the death of Devon Freeman from Chippewas of Georgina Island First Nation. “We continue to stand with the...
October 21, 2022
Freeman inquest: ‘Devon’s Principle’ would give Indigenous kids in care a right to return to their community
Lessons from 16-year-old’s life and death form a legacy that is changing how Indigenous youth who are in contact with the child welfare system are treated Hamilton Spectator: The voice of Devon Russell James Freeman — Muska’abo — has been heard. Devon was many things: a 16-year-old Hamilton boy trying to find his way; a member of...
October 18, 2022
How School Trustees Can Lead on Reconciliation
Some districts have worked to support Indigenous students’ success while others lag. School boards can make the difference. The Tyee: School board election campaigns across B.C. saw a lot of attention focused on gender and sexuality inclusion and “parents’ rights.” But some candidates made reconciliation a major part of their platforms, and now comes the test. As...
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 5, 2022
New investigation into allegations of rights abuse of an Inuk child placed in isolation in a youth center
The Commission launched an investigation of its own initiative after being informed of the situation of an Inuk child who had allegedly been placed in isolation in a rehabilitation center of the CIUSSS de l’Ouest-de-l’Île-de-Montréal. NationTalk: Montréal – The Commission des droits de la personne et des droits de la jeunesse launched an investigation of...
October 4, 2022
Ontario Regional Chief Glen Hare Calls for Action to Address Systemic Inequalities in Ontario Education System
NationTalk: Toronto, ON) Ontario Regional Chief Glen Hare issued the following statement condemning recent actions of the Office of the Minister of Education that perpetuate systemic inequities in the Ontario education system: “Recent actions by the Office of the Minister of Education do not support Ontario’s commitment to work with First Nations as partners on...
September 29, 2022
Death of Joyce Echaquan: Family files $2.7 million lawsuit against Quebec public health agency
APTN: The family of Joyce Echaquan, the Atikamekw mother of seven who was mocked by staff as she lay dying in a Quebec hospital in September 2020 has filed a lawsuit seeking nearly $2.7 million. Echaquan, 37, filmed herself on Facebook Live as a nurse and an orderly were heard making derogatory comments toward her at...
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 26, 2022
‘We are truly sorry’: Leaders, health officials acknowledge Indigenous-specific racism in northern Manitoba’s health-care system
CTV News: Indigenous leaders and northern health officials in Manitoba say Indigenous people continue to face racism in the health-care system, and have signed a declaration committing to eliminate it. On Monday morning leaders from Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak (MKO), Keewatinohk Inniniw Minoayawin (KIM), and the Northern Regional Health Authority (NRHA), met in Thompson to sign...
September 26, 2022
Quebec’s Indigenous sensitivity training falls short, say health-care workers
Training sparked by Joyce Echaquan’s death called ‘superficial’ and ‘cringe-worthy’ CBC: As the second anniversary of Joyce Echaquan’s death approaches this week, Indigenous health professionals say the measures taken by the Quebec government to address racism and discrimination in medical facilities have been inadequate. Echaquan, a 37-year-old Atikamekw mother of seven, died in a Joliette,...
September 22, 2022
Human Rights Tribunal Rejects Attempt to Derail UBCIC’s Challenge to Liver Transplant Discrimination
NationTalk: (xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil Waututh)/Vancouver, B.C. – The British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal (BCHRT) has rejected an attempt by BC health authorities to dismiss UBCIC’s representative complaint against discriminatory access to liver transplants for Indigenous patients. The Provincial Health Services Authority, the BC Transplant Society and Vancouver Coastal Health Authority are...
September 21, 2022
‘The bond is broken’: Data shows Indigenous kids overrepresented in foster care
Statistics Canada released data from the 2021 census showing Indigenous children accounted for 53.8 per cent of all children in foster care. Toronto Star: WINNIPEG – A Winnipeg mother says she was scarred for life when her first child was taken away at birth by social workers, who told her she was unfit to parent...
September 19, 2022
Experts warn ending birth alerts not the only solution to keep Indigenous children with their family
Globe and Mail: Canadian Press – The number of newborns taken into care dropped dramatically as birth alerts ended across Canada, but child welfare experts warn ceasing the practice cannot be the only step governments take to keep families together. “(Birth alerts) really risk being kind of a red herring in the real issue of...
September 13, 2022
Niagara Health: Signs part of commitment to Indigenous community
Toronto Star: Visitors to Niagara Health sites across the region will notice signage on the health system’s properties in St. Catharines, Welland and Niagara Falls meant to show support for the Indigenous community. The signs include a variety of messaging that are geared to mark Niagara Health’s second Indigenous Inclusion Month. The first was marked...
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...
June 27, 2022
Reproductive control of Indigenous women continues around the world, say survivors and researchers
Survivors of forced sterilization and coerced contraception from Canada, Peru and Indonesia will meet with researchers to share stories, heal and advocate for change. University of Alberta: The full extent of reproductive control practices around the world is not known, but they have been historically — and continue to be — targeted at Indigenous, poor...
May 27, 2022
Manitoba First Nations leaders declare State of Emergency in Health Services in the north
NationTalk: (Brokenhead Ojibway Nation) – Late afternoon May 24, 2022, the Keewatinohk Inniniw Okimowin Council (KIOC) of elected leaders unanimously declared a state of emergency on health services. The elected leaders are Chiefs and Councilors who collectively represent 23 First Nations in Manitoba’s north. The motion calling for the declaration came about during a two-day...
May 25, 2022
Wabano Centre for Aboriginal Health and Ottawa Aboriginal Coalition report finds systemic racism in Ontario Health Care
“The conclusions in this report are horrific but unfortunately, not surprising. Indigenous-specific racism is embedded in Canada’s colonial history, and only by taking responsibility can we achieve better health outcomes for Indigenous peoples in this country,” says Wabano’s Executive Director Allison Fisher. “And the time to take responsibility and swift action is now.” The findings...
February 3, 2022
“Remembering Keegan – a BC First Nations Case Study Reflection”
Feb. 23, 2022: First Nations Health Authority – FNHA today announced the public release of its report titled “Remembering Keegan – a BC First Nations Case Study Reflection”. Keegan Combes was a 29-year old First Nations man who died in hospital in 2015 following delayed diagnosis and clinical management of a treatable accidental poisoning. “Remembering Keegan” is part...
May 19, 2021
Access to Education for Inuit Youth
Commission des droits de la personne et des droits de la jeunesse – Considering the limited availability of residential care units for youth in Nunavik, Inuit youth must leave their communities to receive rehabilitation services. Two media articles reporting that Inuit youth could not speak their language in rehabilitation centers prompted the Commission to launch...
May 17, 2021
Forced sterilization in Québec
The Université du Québec en Abitibi-Témiscamingue (UQAT) and the First Nations of Quebec and Labrador Health and Social Services Commission (FNQLHSSC) – in collaboration with several partners gathered within a regional committee, call on everyone to participate in research on free and informed consent and imposed sterilization, including obstetric violence, among First Nations and Inuit women...
February 26, 2021
Death of Joyce Echaquan
Montreal Gazette – Québec Indigenous Affairs Minister Ian Lafrenière, Health Minister Christian Dubé and interim Lanaudière health authority director Caroline Barbir announced along with Atikamekw chief Paul-Émile Ottawa announced the following changes: * the creation of a reconciliation committee * the addition to the health authority’s management of a liaison officer responsible for relations with...
February 11, 2021
Death of Joyce Echaquan
Indigenous Services Canada – Minister of Indigenous Services, the Honourable Marc Miller, highlighted funding of $2 million to the Conseil de la Nation Atikamekw and the Conseil des Atikamekw de Manawan, Joyce’s community, to advance their work and advocacy for the implementation of Joyce’s Principle. With this funding, the Atikamekw, including the community members of...
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 26, 2021
Toxic environment at Royal BC Museum
The First Nations Leadership Council – FNLC is disturbed by several recent media reports outlining ongoing systemic racism and toxic working conditions within the Royal BC Museum (RBCM), a crown corporation established under the Museum Act (2003). Lucy Bell, former head of the Indigenous Collections and Repatriation department, who, in an outgoing farewell speech noted...
December 15, 2020
Death of Joyce Echaquan
Release of “Racism in Québec: ZERO TOLERANCE. Report of the Groupe d’action contre le racism” by the Québec government that had no Indigenous representation. The Atikamekw nation says the 25 recommendations to counter racism raises more questions than answers. “Concrete proposals were offered in the brief for Joyce’s Principle to achieve changes with an impact...
November 16, 2020
Death of Joyce Echaquan – Joyce’s Principle
The Council of the Atikamekw of Manawan (CDAM) and the Council of the Atikamekw Nation (CAN) – have submitted a brief for “Joyce’s Principle” to Francis Legault, the Premier of Québec and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Québec Government has rejected adopting Joyce’s Principle “a call to action and commitment to governments to facilitate the transition...
November 10, 2020
Death of Joyce Echaquan
Québec Government – is investing $3.1M in Joliette “to enable the relocation and enlargement of the Centre d’amitié autochtone de Lanaudière (CAAL), an Indigenous community organization founded in 2001. Its mission is to improve the living conditions of Indigenous people living in or passing through the Joliette region by providing a number of support services, assistance...
November 6, 2020
Death of Joyce Echaquan
The Québec government will invest $15 million to implement targeted actions to enhance cultural safety for members of First Nations and Inuit in the health and social services sector. This announcement follows several calls to action by the Public Inquiry Commission on relations between Indigenous Peoples and certain public services in Québec....
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 16, 2020
Death of Joyce Echaquan
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 2, 2020
Death of Joyce Echaquan
Québec government announced the launch of a public inquiry under the coroner’s office....
September 30, 2020
Death of Joyce Echaquan
Montreal Gazette – “In her last moments, while tied to a hospital bed, Joyce Echaquan, a 37 year-old Atikamekw woman, pleaded for someone to help her. Instead, a video she recorded shows she received disparaging and condescending remarks — at a time when Québec continues to grapple with the larger question of systemic racism.” The...
August 5, 2020
Interim report on systemic racism at Canadian Human Rights Museum
Canadian Museum for Human Rights has released the interim report of the independent third-party review into allegations of systemic racism and other forms of oppression within the Museum. Harris’ report identifies systemic racism within the Museum which has had a negative physical, emotional and financial impact on employees who are Black, Indigenous or People of...
September 17, 2017
Ignored to death: Brian Sinclair’s death caused by racism, inquest inadequate, group says
Brian Sinclair, 45, was found dead in Health Sciences Centre ER 34 hours after arriving without being treated CBC: A group of doctors and academics from across Canada say an Indigenous man who died while waiting for care in a Winnipeg emergency room in 2008 was killed by racism, and say the subsequent inquest into his...