Aboriginal health care in northern Ontario

Indeed, the founda- tional review done for this IRPP research program on the quality of life of Canadian Aboriginal people, of which this paper is a part, concluded that the mes- sage from researchers and Aboriginal groups alike in reference to mental health was that “self-determina- tion should be the mainstay, the fundamental premise of any policy aimed at mending Aboriginal quality of life” (Sa [...] Although the particulars vary — for example, the Although the federal government is often considered Non-insured Health Benefits Program for First Nations to have primary responsibility for Aboriginal health, and Inuit people is administered by the Northwest and the majority of services are in fact provided by either Nunavut territorial governments, but it has been trans- the provincial or territo [...] Agreements with respect to universal health three fundamentals: the need for community services in the area north of 60 were made with the development to overcome the conditions detrimental territorial governments in consultation with the to well-being; the need to sustain the trust on which affected Inuit and First Nations peoples. [...] The most their young: 65 percent of the population is younger recent data available show that 24,827 people live in than 26; the majority have less than a grade-nine- the region; fewer than 30 reside in the smallest settle- level education; the unemployment rate sometimes ments, but more than 1,850 live in the largest exceeds 90 percent, and, with the decline of tradi- (Timpson and Ross 2004). [...] The cost — the consigning of children to residential schools in of vital equipment (like walkie-talkies) and training (in, the past, and the ongoing Child and Family Services for example, first aid and CPR) may be covered by the practice of taking children into care, which was seen AHWS money also, although such things are often as unjustified in some cases.