Current Problems:
Exploring Theme: "Systemic Racism"
Updates on this page: 46
(Filtered by Stakeholder "Ontario")
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,...
March 21, 2024
Ontario Regional Chief Glen Hare and Ontario First Nations Leadership Express Fear Surrounding Lack of First Nations Law and By-Law Enforcement
NationTalk: Ontario Regional Chief Glen Hare and First Nations Leadership from across Ontario have released the following statement: Yesterday, First Nations in Ontario warned provincial lawmakers that police will no longer be able to keep First Nations communities safe once Ontario’s new policing legislation comes into effect on April 1, 2024. “Criminals are getting more...
March 2, 2024
No home. No options: Ontario Indigenous kids ‘damaged’ by system sending them south
A Global News investigation has revealed how First Nations youths from remote, northern communities like Grassy Narrows are allegedly targeted by some for-profit group home companies because their owners can charge more for Indigenous children or because the kids provide a steady source of revenue, according to interviews with more than 50 former group home workers, former...
February 7, 2024
Feds’ labour data shows wage gap for Indigenous workers
Canada’s National Observer: Federal Labour Minister Seamus O’Regan launched labour data tool Equi’Vision on Friday. Photo from file by Carl Meyer. Listen to article A new tool created by Ottawa to reveal potential barriers in the workplace shows a significant gap in wages for Indigenous workers. On Friday, Labour Minister Seamus O’Regan launched a tool called Equi’Vision that...
December 19, 2023
Far from home, Indigenous students face challenges getting education but there’s hope
NationTalk: Global News, The Canadian Press – Charla Moonias lost her friends, her language and the connection to her culture after she left her northern Ontario First Nation at 14 years old to go to school hundreds of kilometres away. There was little support available as she struggled with addictions, tried to cope with the...
December 14, 2023
Indigenous students in Ontario still face inequities
Sol Mamakwa, Ontario NDP MPP for Kiiwetinoong, poses for a photo after speaking at the Matawa education conference. Photo by Matteo Cimellaro / Canada’s National Observer Canada’s National Observer: Indigenous students in Ontario still have lower attendance and graduation rates and are suspended twice as often as their non-Indigenous peers. The educational outlook was released...
December 5, 2023
AFN national chief candidates would back inquiry into Sixties Scoop
National inquiry into removal of Indigenous children could become a key task for next AFN leader CBC Indigenous: Some First Nations chiefs say the next national chief of the Assembly of First Nations should push for a national inquiry into the “Sixties Scoop” and the continued removal of Indigenous children from their families. About 22,000 Indigenous children were...
November 9, 2023
Video of alleged police assault of Mohawk man raises questions about delay in watchdog’s probe
Ontario’s SIU took 13 months to open an investigation, eventually leading to charges Warning: Some details in this story are distressing CBC News: Ontario’s police watchdog initially balked at investigating an alleged police assault of a Mohawk man that was captured on camera and eventually led to charges against officers from Belleville, Ont., according to...
November 1, 2023
Colonialism remains a health risk, MPP says
Wants health authority given to First Nations First Peoples Law Report: Timmins The Daily Press – A private member’s bill with the goal of improving healthcare outcomes for the province’s Indigenous population was defeated in the Ontario Legislature this week, much to the disappointment of a northern MPP. Motion 66 urged the Ontario government, led...
October 27, 2023
Northern Ontario First Nations call for help amid mental health crisis
By Liam Casey The Canadian Press NationTalk: Global News – Several First Nations and health officials in northern Ontario are asking for help after declaring a state of emergency over mental health crises across their territories. Cat Lake First Nation Chief Russell Wesley said 188 people of the 500 who live in his community are part of a mental wellness program, but...
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...
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 14, 2023
Anishinabek Nation responds to the desecration of Sacred Site in Bon Echo Provincial Park
NationTalk: BARRIE, ON – The Chiefs of the Anishinabek Nation Southeast Region are calling attention to the recently discovered vandalism of a Sacred Site in Bon Echo Provincial Park. Mazinaw Rock has been a designated national historic site of Canada since 1982. It is the largest rock pictograph site on the southern Canadian Shield and...
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 8, 2023
Some staff at St. Catherines Hospital ‘fearful’ of treating Indigenous patients: report
Panel reviewing death of Heather Winterstein calls for collaboration with Indigenous community Heather Winterstein died in 2022 after two trips to the St. Catherines Hospital. APTN news: A report detailing the grueling final days of Heather Winterstein’s life says some staff are “fearful” of treating Indigenous patients because they are unsure of the cultural correctness...
September 6, 2023
More than 500 Indigenous classes won’t have a teacher this week: here’s what we should do
Amid national teacher shortages, Indigenous communities are struggling enormously to recruit and retain teachers. The Toronto Star: Students start school this week in Eabametoong First Nation, a community 360 km northeast of Thunder Bay, where seven teaching positions remain unfilled; this includes two all-important kindergarten teachers for students who are starting school for the very...
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...
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 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...
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....
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...
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 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...
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 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 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...
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 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 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...
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...
January 17, 2022
Niagara Health System Discrimination
Niagara Chapter-Native Women – The NCNW Board of Directors is asking for a full Coroner’s Inquest into the death of Heather Winterstein, 24, who passed away while in the care of Niagara Health System on Dec 10, 2021. We call for the Coroner’s Inquest to address the long-standing issues of discrimination against Indigenous people, particularly...
December 17, 2021
Niagara Health System Discrimination
Toronto Star – Niagara Ontario Health Team Planning Table (NOHT) has voiced its support for an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the death of Heather Winterstein, an Indigenous woman who collapsed and died in the emergency room at the St. Catharines site of Niagara Health. Carol Stewart-Kirkby, co-lead for the health team, said there is...
April 9, 2021
Nurses told to leave First Nation during pandemic
Globe and Mail – For the past two weeks, during a global pandemic, Pikangikum First Nation – a Northern Ontario community of nearly 3,600, located along the Berens River near the Manitoba border – has operated without a fully equipped police service or access to proper medical care…On March 19, Chief Owen and the band...
March 23, 2021
Premier’s racist comment
Sudbury.com – “The member flew in [to] get his vaccine, so thank you for doing that and kind of jumping the line,” Ford said. “I talked to a few chiefs that were pretty upset about that for flying into the community that he doesn’t belong to, but that’s not here nor there.” Premier Doug Ford...
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...
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...
February 5, 2020
OHRC claims discrimination in accessing health services in Timmins
Timmins The Daily Press – On the second anniversary of the deaths of Joey Knapaysweet and Agnes Sutherland, the Ontario Human Rights Commission (OHRC) announced it has filed an application with the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario (HRTO) alleging discrimination based on Indigenous ancestry by public service providers in Timmins, Ontario. The February 2018 deaths...
November 9, 2019
Coroner investigating systemic racism at Thunder Bay Hospital
Toronto Star – A 19-year old First Nations man taken to the hospital by ambulance in obvious distress was escorted off the hospital property three hours later by security staff. Apparently, escorting Indigenous people who are seeking medical care off of hospital property is common practice. The would be patient ultimately committed suicide at a...
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...