First Nations In Canada Left To Fend For Themselves During Coronavirus Pandemic
STONY PLAIN, Alta. — Most of the 634 First Nations in Canada are shutting down their borders and blocking entrances to their reserves in a frenzied bid to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus.
For some leaders, it feels like a situation where they must fend for themselves, according to Manitoba Assembly of First Nations (AFN) regional chief Kevin Hart.
“I’m calling it out, we aren’t ready,” said Hart, who holds the portfolio for the AFN emergency management plan, in a telephone interview with HuffPost Canada.
The Liberal government is dividing up an $82-billion financial aid package to Canadians during the COVID-19 crisis while putting aside $305 million to help First Nations, Metis and Inuit communities. But it’s not near enough to even cover the immediate needs of those populations, said Hart.
Indigenous Peoples in Canada are among the most vulnerable to the deadly pandemic because of long-standing issues such as higher levels of poverty, poor and overcrowded housing, limited access to health care and other statistical inadequacies.
The Mishkeegogamang Ojibway Nation in northern Ontario alerted members on Wednesday night of a confirmed case of COVID-19 in Sioux Lookout, a two-hour drive away, where many people go for supplies and appointments. Indigenous Services Minister Marc Miller has acknowledged that it’s not a matter of if, but when, the highly infectious virus enters First Nations, Inuit or Metis communities.
That will have devastating consequences, especially to fly-in and remote communities, said a Blackfoot doctor working on the front lines on the Blood Tribe reserve in southern Alberta.
“Most rural hospitals will be full at the peak time. First Nation and Metis in Alberta do not have a hospital and likely will not be close enough for admission to hospital,” said Dr. Esther Tailfeathers during a rare break from her work for a telephone interview with HuffPost Canada. “They will be left to manage this in a makeshift holding...
