Ontario boosts aboriginal health funding after suicide crisis

By Rod Nickel
May 25 (Reuters) - Ontario plans to spend more than C$220
million ($168.48 million) to improve aboriginal healthcare, the
Canadian province said on Wednesday, a month after a rash of
suicide attempts in a poor indigenous community drew global
attention.
The province's Liberal government said the funding, to be
spent over three years, would boost doctor service, make fruits
and vegetables more available for children and increase the
number of mental health workers.
After the initial funding commitment, Canada's most populous
province will spend C$104.5 million annually, Health Minister
Eric Hoskins said.
The remote Attawapiskat First Nation, 600 miles (965 km)
north of Ottawa, declared a state of emergency in April after 11
people attempted suicide over a few days.
"There's an underlying First Nations health crisis, and
that's the root we need to get at," said Ontario Regional Chief
Isadore Day, using a term for aboriginal peoples. "These
investments are going to start dealing with the emergencies, but
it's like triaging a situation - you have to get to the bottom
of it."
Canada's 1.4 million aboriginals have higher levels of
poverty and a lower life expectancy than other Canadians, linked
to substandard housing, drug and alcohol addiction,
unemployment, and abuses suffered in Canada's former residential
school system for indigenous students.
Attawapiskat may qualify for some of the benefits of
Ontario's plan, including mental health workers in schools,
recreation programs and suicide prevention training, said Shae
Greenfield, a spokesman for Hoskins.
The federal government now needs to take action, Day said,
naming specific needs for housing, infrastructure and education.
A spokeswoman for federal Indigenous and Northern Affairs
Minister Carolyn Bennett could not be immediately reached.
Canada's Liberal government said in March it would spend an
extra C$8.37 billion over five years to help the aboriginal
population deal with dire living conditions.
($1 = 1.3058 Canadian dollars)