As the third wave of COVID-19 emerges, Indigenous folks who find themselves unhoused are now being threatened with violence to clear encampments, with no promise of safe, permanent housing. Toronto Indigenous Harm Reduction raised a teepee on March 27, 2010 as a space for healing, community and ceremony in Allen Gardens, a gathering place for many houseless Indigenous people in the city.
As multiple crisis in Indigenous healthcare mount around the country, the federal government has announced development of Indigenous healthcare legislation. But considering Canada’s previous record here, what can we expect?
What does the expulsion of Jagmeet Singh from the House of Commons reveal about structural racism in Canada? In this Brief, Azeezah Kanji details how white supremacy shapes the work of the RCMP, national security, and Parliament itself.
Indigenous communities have kept the cases of COVID-19 relatively low. Yet research by Yellowhead reveals that the numbers are nearly triple those reported by Indigenous Services Canada. This data discrepancy is rooted in a public health system that excludes Indigenous people.
Operating alongside the many challenges of COVID-19 is food insecurity, which has long been a significant problem in many Indigenous communities. Few of the current emergency measures that have been enacted by the federal government will substantively address this long term and ongoing problem.
This brief considers the importance of research and Northern research responses to the pandemic, but also some infrastructure challenges that must be addressed to ensure the health and well-being of Inuit.
Based in the Faculty of Arts at Toronto Metropolitan University.