Hill Times May 5, 2020 On a snowy day in another life, I had the honour of meeting Rupert Ross. He was a Crown attorney in northern Ontario, and he was looking to retire after a long career. But not on this day. On this day, he was advocating for better social programs for Indigenous […]
Canada’s justice system is in crisis, and it isn’t news Read More »
Hill Times April 20 2020 With more than 30,000 Canadians tested or presumed to have COVID-19, we are facing a health crisis like no other. This crisis will also shine a light on a number of weaknesses and inequities in our society, some of which are delineated along racial lines. Twenty-nine states in the U.S.
Why we need race-based data on COVID-19 Read More »
Hill Times April 6 2020 In March of 2020, the world went into lockdown. We stopped going out to see friends, many stopped going to places of work and lost the hallway conversations with co-workers, and we started to look at neighbours with no small sense of fear. Anxiety started to grow. Some started to
The month we learned that mental health is everybody’s responsibility Read More »
Hello IRG Clients, colleagues, and friends, We are all adjusting to a new way of living and working and the IRG is no different. We taking this time to consider how our safe in-person learning environments that we are known for, might be able to translate online. Until then, we are working remotely. As per
Hill Times March 23 2020 Anybody else waking up each morning, and dreading picking up your phone? What else has changed while we tried to sleep? COVID-19 is the defining challenge of our generation, and we’re only beginning to feel the effects. There will be health risks, economic loss, stock unpredictability, and the list goes
What the coronavirus shutdown might mean for Indigenous policy Read More »
Hill Times March 9 2020 On Friday, March 6, Canada’s largest celebration of Indigenous leadership occurred in Ottawa, the Indspire Awards. The national organization notes “the Indspire Awards represents the highest honour the Indigenous community bestows upon its own people.” Watch the ceremony on APTN and CBC on National Indigenous Day on June 21. It
Why we need more Indigenous heroes Read More »
Hill Times February 24 2020 We are adding to the crisis in the relationship with Indigenous peoples. It’s a crisis. Many people are scrambling to come up with policy options. Tensions are high. We all want it resolved. And that, Ottawa, is pretty much all that we can agree on. Those are the facts. Everything
We’re adding to the crisis in the relationship with Indigenous peoples Read More »
Hill Times February 10 2020 There is a pervasive stereotype in the health-care system that Indigenous peoples are all drunks. Every single Indigenous person that I know has personal or family experiences of falling victim to this stereotype. Dr. Janet Smylie reflected in her report in 2015, “First Peoples, Second Class Treatment,” that many Indigenous
We need to stop the epidemic of racist health care against Indigenous peoples Read More »
Hill Times January 27 2020 Last week the Office of the Correctional Investigator issued a scathing report on the state of Indigenous people in federal prisons. It’s bad. The overall proportion of Indigenous people is at 30 per cent, and for Indigenous women the figure is even higher. About 10 years ago, I toured the
Hill Times, January 13 2020 I teach about cultural competence and the lack of understanding between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Canadians. One of the consistent responses from non-Indigenous participants is shock about the amount of pain that some Indigenous families go through. It’s true, some Indigenous families endure more pain in a year than some non-Indigenous
Build understanding, build respect: how hard could it be? Read More »
