Shattering the ‘Canadian mosaic’
“The past is something that we have to come to terms with but I am going to look forward to ensure Canadians together will build a better Canada, and I think that is my important role”
Canada has been put under a microscope over the course of the last few months as countless unmarked graves have been revealed at the sites of former residential schools across the nation. These discoveries have sparked a conversation that is long overdue, emphasising that there is still much to uncover in terms of Canada’s dark history. Residential schools were established in the 19th century as government-funded religious schools with the aim of assimilating Indigenous children into the developing Canadian identity at the time. At these schools, children were separated from their families, stripped of their culture and language, and, in many cases, forced into unpaid labour. This has had profound impacts on generations of Indigenous people, resulting in health inequities across the social determinants of health, such as access to water, healthcare, education, housing and employment opportunities. Indigenous People in Canada continue to be overlooked, unrepresented, and ignored, exposing not just holes but gaping chasms in the social safety net. In analysing the largest barriers to achieving greater equity in health and wellbeing amongst Indigenous communities, several key areas require urgent change.
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Children’s toys on the steps of the British Columbia Legislature building to remember the deaths of children as discovered from the unmarked graves across the country
Water
By nearly every quantifiable metric, Indigenous people suffer more than the average Canadian through unequal access to education, employment, health services and even basic material resources such as clean water. For decades there have been water quality advisories on reserves across Canada, with water and wastewater facilities remaining run-down and unusable due to a lack of government funding and maintenance. In 2015, the federal government under Prime Minister Justin Trudeau promised to eliminate all long-term water advisories by March of 2021—and has fallen wildly short of this promise. Poor water quality is responsible for serious gastrointestinal diseases and an increased risk of cancer, resulting in more demand on already strained health services for this population. By making changes to how water facilities are run and maintained, Indigenous people can gain a basic necessity for life.
Healthcare
Culturally safe care is not necessarily a new phenomenon, but is nonetheless woefully overlooked in medical training programmes in Canada. By including teaching on traditional Indigenous medicine, language and other aspects of their culture in curricula across the country, progress can hopefully be made on improving the standard of care for this population. Stigma and discrimination make it difficult for Indigenous people to access healthcare, and by starting with educating healthcare providers there can be a shift in the discourse on Indigenous health. Various studies have frequently highlighted these discriminatory experiences, with Indigenous people voicing their desires for more health and social services to cater to their unique needs. It would be counterproductive to ignore Indigenous people’s perceptions of health and social services, as a greater attentiveness to culturally safe care may drastically enhance the trust that minority communities have in the medical system.
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Sage smudge bundle and abalone shell, a traditional method of cleansing the soul
Education
As of January 2018, only 44% of Indigenous youth graduated from highschool, versus an average of 88% for the rest of Canada. Reports seldom acknowledge the reasons behind this horrifying statistic, but it could be due to a complex interaction between poor quality education, little to no government funding, generational trauma from residential schools, nonexistent school counselling services, and reduced access due to discrimination and geographical distance. There are gaps in the curriculum where teaching about Indigenous language and culture should be, and there has been a consistent turnover of educators resulting from poor facilities and opportunities. While it can be difficult to regulate schools on reserves, it is necessary to consider the impacts that poor education has on future opportunities for Indigenous youth. Learning about Indigenous culture for both Indigenous people and non-Indigenous Canadians needs to be prioritised, and the improvement of education on and off reserves should be considered across all levels of governance.
Housing
Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons
Housing project on Indigenous reserve in Manitoba, Canada
Concerns surrounding the quality and maintenance of facilities on reserves across the country have been present in the media and literature for years, but there has been very little progress in terms of providing affordable housing for Indigenous people. This population experiences homelessness at an astoundingly high rate—up to 8 times higher than non-Indigenous Canadians. A glimmer of hope was seen this August, as Edmonton, Alberta announced a housing project to provide affordable housing for Indigenous people in the area. Initiatives like this are what the country needs in order to start providing the basic necessities of life for those who have called this land home long before European settlers-colonists.
A long succession of Canadian governments have grappled with these problems, and many more have responded with funding provided and policies to tackle them. However, none of them have succeeded in reversing the impacts that colonisation has had on this population. The recent appointment of Mary Simon—an Indigenous woman—to Governor General in Canada provides a glimmer of hope for Indigenous people as she steps into a senior role in what is still a colonial system of governance. This colonialism was further challenged in her installation ceremony, as she used her native Inuktitut language in addition to Canada’s two official languages, French and English. Her statement on acknowledging the past but looking to the future provides an opportunity for change. With the appointment of the first Indigenous Governor General, Canada can begin to move towards acceptance of its past and the renewal of Indigenous culture that has been historically suppressed.
Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons
Mary Simon, Governor General of Canada
While many speak of Canada as a ‘mosaic’ and describe the country as having a multicultural landscape that celebrates inclusion and diversity, there is much in its history that begs to differ. However, with Simon’s appointment putting Indigenous people in a place of leadership, the atrocities of the past can be acknowledged and Indigenous people can be prioritised. It is a pivotal moment for Indigenous advocacy in Canada, and although the ideal of the Canadian cultural mosaic has taken a hit in light of recent events, perhaps this illusion needed to be shattered in order to acknowledge our inadequacies and seek decisive change. As the nation faces a reckoning with its history, we have a unique opportunity to not just express hope for the future, but to actively build a better Canada.
