Indigenous children in Canada suffer with significantly poorer health than non-Indigenous children in Canada. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission has identified a range of issues that may be contributing to this disparity. Children's Healthcare Canada has chosen two areas within this broad issue to focus on:
Implementing Jordan’s Principle, on and off reserve, without delay as per several Canadian Human Rights Tribunal decisions.
Working with Aboriginal people to advance a strategy to facilitate the stewardship, development, collection and analysis of health data to measure the health and wellbeing of First Nations, Inuit and Metis children and youth.
To help our members gain a better understanding of these issues Children's Healthcare Canada is working with the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society of Canada, and the First Nations Information Governance Centre.Marc St. Dennis, from the First Nations Child & Family Caring Society of Canada, will discuss Jordan’s Principle as it relates to the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal orders, the current state of Canada’s implementation of Jordan’s Principle, and what this means for First Nations children and the service providers who are helping them access the services they need when they need them.
Maria Santos and Melissa Dane from the First Nations Information Governance Centre will help us understand key issues in First Nations information and data sovereignty. They will also explore a number of related to what happens when we inappropriately apply indicators and benchmarks to First Nations populations, how OCAP ® is used to protect First Nations data, and other initiatives that support a national First Nations data governance strategy? In the end, will discuss how this eventually improve child health and the health systems serving children and youth?
Melissa Dane
Melissa is an Anishinaabe-kwe woman who grew up living off reserve in rural Northern Ontario. She came to Ottawa in 2013 where she completed undergraduate and graduate degrees in Applied Linguistics & Discourse Studies. Her graduate research focused on the evolution of Ojibway oral histories as a result of language shift. Melissa is passionate about working with and for Indigenous peoples, especially in terms of education and de-colonization initiatives. She is a new recruit for the FNIGC and is working as a Research Officer.
Maria Santos
Maria is the First Nations Data Centre Program Manager at FNIGC. She manages access to the national surveys held on behalf of First Nations living on-reserve and northern communities. Holding a Master’s degree in Community Health and Epidemiology, she has acquired more than 20 years of experience working with health data from all levels of government, hospitals and non-government organizations. While living in the north and employed with the Government of the Northwest Territories, she was introduced to the cultural richness of the Indigenous people but also the distinct challenges they face. Now, as an employee of FNIGC, she is fortunate to partake in the movement towards data sovereignty (and thus self-determination) as a way for improving First Nations’ health and well-being.
Marc St.Dennis
Born in Manitoba and raised in Ontario, Marc is Métis with ancestral roots in the Red River Valley. Marc has a Master’s degree in Indigenous and Canadian Studies and a keen interest in Indigenous knowledges and worldviews. He now works with the First Nations Child & Family Caring Society of Canada to speak with people of all ages and backgrounds about the history and contemporary realities of colonization in Canada and the many ways we can all positively impact the lives of Indigenous children, youth, and their families.
