A private donor is being lauded by aboriginal leaders for stepping in “where the government of Canada has failed” after anonymously pledging C$ 380,000 to provide mental health workers for a suicide-stricken First Nations community in northern Ontario.
One week ago, Wapekeka First Nation – reeling from the recent suicides of Jolynn Winter and Chantel Fox, both 12 years old – declared a state of emergency. Suicide had tightened its grip on the remote community of 430 people, forcing officials to fly out four young girls to be placed on 24-hour suicide watch and label another 26 students as high risk for suicide.
“Our community is in crisis,” said Joshua Frogg, the spokesman for Wapekeka First Nation. Months earlier the community had approached federal officials, detailing a spike in drug use and suicide attempts. Noting concerns about a potential suicide pact among young women, the community requested C$ 376,706 to hire and train four mental health workers.
The request was denied by Health Canada, who later said the request arrived at an “awkward” time in the federal funding cycle. As the community grieved the loss of two girls, leaders drew a direct link between their deaths and the denied funds. “Our community plan was turned down by government and now two are dead,” said Frogg.
Others saw the denied request as part of a larger pattern, one that has left basic health and mental health services on reserves chronically underfunded, with deadly consequences. Across Canada, indigenous youth are five to six times more likely to die by suicide than their non-indigenous counterparts.
“The healthcare system on reserves is far inferior to what other people get,” said Mike Kirlew, a physician who works in Wapekeka First Nation. “The cost of our complacency will be paid for, in full, in the cost of children’s lives.”
This week the community said an anonymous donor had pledged to fund the full amount of the denied request. “Words cannot express how grateful we are that this donor has committed to helping our young people with their mental health struggles,” Chief Brennan Sainnawap said in a statement.
The donor contacted the community last week, moved by reports of the suicide crisis, said Grand Chief Alvin Fiddler of the Nishnawbe Aski Nation, which represents First Nations in northern Ontario. “The continued loss of First Nation youth to suicide is unacceptable to the Canadian public.”
An initial installment of C$ 30,000 was wired to the community on Monday and the community has already begun hiring mental health workers. “We are grateful that a private donor has stepped in where the government of Canada has failed,” added Fiddler.
Health Canada said it was aware of the donation. After news of the suicides broke, the government reversed its decision and said it would be able to provide the funding. Government officials are in talks with Sainnawap but have yet to confirm the exact amount that will be provided, the agency said in a statement.
Donor pledges C$380,000 for suicide prevention in First Nations community
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