MKO Grand Chief calls on Ottawa to take action against suicide crisis on Manitoba First Nations – CBC

Sheila North Wilson to present in Ottawa days after losing her own cousin to suicide

Feb 09, 2017

A group representing 30 Manitoba First Nations is calling on the federal government to take action against high rates of suicide in Indigenous communities in the province.

Sheila North Wilson, Grand Chief of Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak (MKO), will make a presentation on the subject in Ottawa Thursday morning. She said she’ll ask the government to address what she says are the root causes of suicide in many Indigenous communities: lack of investment, lack of opportunities, isolation and the ongoing legacy of colonialism.

“It’s a crisis and an epidemic that touches, probably every Indigenous person that you can think of in some way or another,” she said by phone on Wednesday night.

Read More: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/mko-indigenous-suicide-manitoba-1.3973498