Increasing Indigenous access: the need for Canadian certified counsellors in the NIHB program – The Hill Times
February 6, 2023
Inequitable access to health and mental health care negates essential opportunities and services necessary for the recovery of colonization.
Inequity in access to fundamental government services, such as health and mental health care, has been a long-standing systemic issue that discriminates against Indigenous people in Canada. This inequitable access negates essential opportunities and services necessary for the recovery of colonization and historical harms perpetuated by Canada and its counterparts in the provinces. Regular services afforded to Canadians are routinely denied to Indigenous peoples due to political interferences based on unilateral decisions outside of Indigenous leadership’s view; the very jurisdictional authorities delegated to oversee these decisions for their communities wellbeing. Such decisions result in acute health impacts further perpetuating the impacts of colonization. Within this two-tiered system, upheld by the status quo, the lived experiences and realities of the First Nations and Inuit people are routinely dismissed alongside failure to consult and accommodate the First Peoples and communities, as mandated through legal authorities and protected constitutional rights.
