Poverty Action Now Ontario First Nations Position Paper (Draft for Discussion) Chiefs of Ontario – April 18, 2016

Executive Summary Ontario First Nations have produced a position paper called Poverty Action Now in response to the crisis in First Nations communities. Poverty is at the root of every tragic First Nations statistic. Poverty is killing First Nations people in Ontario. Poverty Action Now outlines the poverty in Ontario First Nations communities which is among the most severe in the province. It shares evidence such as the fact that half of Ontario First Nations adults have incomes under $20,000 per year and less than 10% have incomes higher than $50,000, compared to over a quarter of Ontarians. The bulk of First Nations people are employed in low income jobs and struggle to make ends meet and feed their families. Child poverty in Ontario First Nations is three times higher than for non-Indigenous children. Unacceptable levels of overcrowding and boil water advisories continue to plague Ontario First Nations communities and the number of homes with mould or mildew has increased since 2002-03 to 50%. Chronic health conditions such as diabetes have reached alarming levels and high blood pressure now affects over a quarter of adults in Ontario First Nations communities. Depression affects over one in five adults; suicidal thoughts are common among adolescents. First Nations focus groups on poverty indicators in 2016 highlighted the fact that the “third world” level of poverty in First Nations communities - food, shelter, water, and basic survival - is not comparable to poverty elsewhere in Ontario. Systemic issues including lack of access to lands and resources, lack of employment, inadequate community infrastructure and inequitable funding policies have created the current climate of hopelessness in which First Nations are barely surviving. In keeping with the nation-to-nation relationship and respect for First Nations inherent right to self-determination and other treaty and Indigenous rights, Ontario First Nations call upon the provincial and federal governments to engage with First Nations on poverty action now. A twopronged strategy is required to move forward that includes immediate targeted funding to address crisis-level needs for communities severely lacking in basic infrastructure and supportive services, along with a First Nations-led process for long term and sustainable poverty reduction strategies. Comprehensive community engagement is critical to ensuring workable strategies for poverty reduction in First Nations communities. Priority areas for reducing poverty across sectors should be discussed further among First Nations and tabled with external governments in order to set markers for achieving progress. Pilot projects should be supported to allow First Nations communities to develop local solutions to alleviate poverty using strength-based, culturally informed approaches. A trilateral Ontario First Nations Poverty Table needs to be established to ensure Ontario First Nations involvement in determining short-term priorities and targets and addressing systemic federal/provincial policy and funding barriers to poverty reduction. The paper concludes with the following recommendations for action: Ontario First Nations Position Paper: Poverty Action Now (DRAFT–NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION) April 12, 2016

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1. That this position paper be shared with the Governments of Ontario and Canada as a work in progress, to table First Nations concerns and set out the processes desired by First Nations for addressing poverty now; 2. That there be immediate and focused poverty reduction action to support those specific Ontario First Nations communities where the most deplorable conditions exist; communities which have been compared to the world’s poorest. These communities, to be identified by Ontario First Nations as an urgent priority, include those severely lacking in basic infrastructure including clean water, sanitation, housing, roads, education, health, employment and emergency services, and/or those where critical incidents are putting the health and wellness of community members at greatest risk; 3. That comprehensive Ontario First Nations community engagement and initial community development be supported in 2016 to develop strategic First Nations community poverty reduction measures and re-build First Nations community wellness and abundance, through dialogue and “asset-mapping” to identify community strengths and resources needed for overcoming the detrimental impacts of poverty on communities; 4. That Ontario and Canada set aside funding to support sustained and long-term First Nations strategies for reducing poverty and rebuilding First Nations community wellness and abundance, to be identified through the community engagement and development process; 5. That Ontario support pilot projects in a select group of Ontario First Nations communities through a Chiefs of Ontario proposal to the Local Poverty Reduction Fund, utilizing the First Nations Mental Wellness Continuum Framework as a culturally-informed, strength-based foundation for supporting community work to effectively reduce First Nations poverty; 6. That, following community engagement and development on poverty, Ontario First Nations review and revise priorities for action in areas such as mental health and addictions; social assistance reform; children and youth; justice; violence; lands and resources and community economic development; training, education and employment and others; and 7. That a trilateral Ontario First Nations Poverty Table be established with Ontario (OPRSO, MAA, MCYS, MOHLTC and MCSS), and Canada (INAC, ESDC, HC and Families, Children and Social Development) to ensure Ontario First Nation-specific involvement in all planning and development related to poverty reduction and determining immediate priorities and target areas for action in the short-term and addressing systemic federal/provincial/First Nations policy and funding barriers in the long-term.

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Table of Contents Executive Summary

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Introduction

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Historical Perspective

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Current Status: First Nations Poverty

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Defining Poverty in Ontario First Nations Communities .

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The Need for Action: Where to Go from Here

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Nation to Nation Relationships

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UNDRIP Rights

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Federal and Provincial Initiatives

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Recommended Actions

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Ontario First Nations Position Paper: Poverty Action Now Introduction The following paper presents poverty from a First Nations perspective and highlights the urgent need for strategic action to alleviate the poverty crisis in Ontario First Nations communities. Poverty in First Nations communities is a bi-product of the historical oppression of the past as well as inequitable funding policies which continue today. The most recent evidence of funding inequities was in January 2016 when the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal found the federal government’s child welfare funding practices on-reserve to be discriminatory.1 Poverty is at the root of every tragic statistic and news item about First Nations including the March 2016 house fire in Pikangikum First Nation in which three children and six adults died. The Chiefs of Ontario have compiled the following information to shed light on the deplorable conditions that First Nations people are living in today and to suggest priority areas and approaches that need to be taken across all sectors to change the current picture. Further to the recent Political Accord with the Government of Ontario, the leadership of Ontario First Nations call upon the Province to work together with First Nations to undertake all appropriate measures to address the priority issues and enlist new solutions to end First Nations poverty.

Historical Perspective First Nations’ history of oppression, displacement and trauma has been well documented in reports ranging from the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples2 issued twenty years ago, to the 2015 report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.3 Extreme poverty has been the backdrop of life in Ontario First Nations communities for many decades. The social assistance which became available on-reserve in the 1960s via a federal/provincial cost-sharing arrangement, the 1965 Indian Welfare Agreement, extended some but not all provincial social services to First Nations communities. The 1965 Agreement was beset with funding caps and limitations such as the exclusion of capital costs after the first few years of implementation and a very limited program scope – issues that were cited in a 1979 tripartite review of social services on-reserve that produced the report, “A Starving Man Doesn’t Argue.”4 The fact that in 2016 First Nations are still facing the worst living conditions in Canada, and that the past failed and meagre attempts by government have not resolved the deplorable conditions in Ontario First Nations communities, points to the need for action on poverty now across all sectors.

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Current Status: First Nations Poverty First Nations poverty is among the most severe in the province. The following data from the Regional Health Survey Phase II (2008-2010), Ontario Region and other sources highlight the level of poverty among adults (age 18 and up) living in Ontario First Nations communities in terms of basic needs, living conditions and overall health5.

Income levels are lower for Ontario First Nation adults than for other Ontarians. As shown in the infographic below, half of Ontario First Nation adults have an annual income of less than $20,000/year and for another 20%, total annual income is less than $30,000/year. Only 7% of First Nation adults have an annual income over $50,000/year, compared to 27% of Ontarians (age 15 and up) whose annual income is over $51,3056. Virtually 100% of Ontario First Nation adults are part of families living below standard low income cut-off measures set by Statistics Canada, and are thereby at risk of poverty. This compares to 12.5% of Ontarians who were living below poverty levels in 2008.7 Poor health or disability prevents one in four Ontario First Nation adults from seeking work. Over half of First Nation adults are employed (56%); most of these are full-time. Yet paying for utilities is a struggle for over one in four adults, and food or transportation costs are a challenge for one in five. Almost half of Ontario First Nation adults (47%) have often skipped meals or eaten less because there wasn’t enough money for food.

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Child poverty is much higher in First Nations communities. Census data from 2006 on child poverty show that 50% of First Nation children in Canada are living in poverty8 compared to 17% of Canadian children. For Ontario specifically, the poverty level among First Nation children is 40% - approximately three times higher than the level for non-Indigenous children9.

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Overcrowding and Health Hazards are much higher. In Ontario First Nations communities the average household includes 3.6 people, compared to an average of 2.6 in the general Ontario population. Over half of First Nation youth (52%) reported living in households with more than five people. Three out of four First Nation adults are using boiled or bottled water for drinking. Two thirds of homes in Ontario First Nations communities are in need of major or minor repairs. Mould or mildew is present in 50% of homes – up from 40% in 2002-03.10

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Chronic Health conditions are much worse. Ontario First Nation adults are disproportionately affected by health conditions including high blood pressure, arthritis, allergies, diabetes, chronic back pain and asthma. High blood pressure has risen at an alarming rate to 27% from 16% in 2002-03. Arthritis has increased to 23% from 19% since 2002-03. Diabetes has increased from 19% in 2002-03 to 22% in 2008-10, compared to 8.8% of Ontarians11. Almost half of Ontario First Nation adults are obese (48%); another third are overweight (32%).

Ontario First Nations Position Paper: Poverty Action Now (DRAFT–NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION) April 12, 2016

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Substance Use and Mental/Emotional Health are much worse. For most Ontario First Nation adults (82%), alcohol and drugs are one of the main challenges in their community; non-prescription use of substances such as cannabis, opioids and cocaine is reported at higher levels than mainstream. Half of adults feel their overall health has been negatively impacted by residential schools and the child welfare systems. Verbal and physical aggression are common. Over one in five adults feel depressed at least some of the time, and almost one in five have thought about suicide within the past year.

SUICIDE – ADULTS AND YOUTH

*High sampling variability. Use figure with caution.

Source: First Nations Regional Health Survey (RHS) 2008/2010: National Report on Adults, Youth and Children Living in First Nations Communities. The First Nations Information Governance Centre, c.2012).

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Defining Poverty in Ontario First Nations Communities In 2015 Ontario First Nations embarked on a poverty index project in collaboration with the Ministry of Aboriginal Affairs to create a working definition of First Nations poverty to inform the development of appropriate indicators for measuring poverty in Ontario First Nations communities. First Nations provided input to this project through two First Nations focus groups held in Toronto and Thunder Bay in March 2016. Focus group feedback mirrored the profile of extreme poverty in the data noted above.

Do you buy food or pay bills? When my dad missed a truck payment he said “Kids can’t eat a truck”. First Nations Focus Group Participant

Participants talked about the gap between First Nations and mainstream standards of living. They cited the lack of basic necessities such as clean drinking water; boil water advisories have been in place in some communities for twenty years. Poverty in First Nations communities cannot be

compared with poverty anywhere else in Ontario. The focus group discussions brought to light the extent of mental and emotional health issues and coping behaviours that impact impoverished First Nations individuals and families, from depression and anxiety to drug use, child neglect, self-medication and suicide.

When your children are killing themselves because of lack of identity and resources – that’s poverty. First Nations Focus Group Participant

Focus group participants raised the systemic issues that have contributed to First Nations poverty: lack of employment; expropriated lands; lack of access to resources and services; environmental contamination; inadequate community infrastructure and funding; increased living costs; and program cuts that increase the burden on community workers. They cited program barriers such as Ontario Works restrictions on employment support which ironically keep people trapped in the welfare system. They wondered what things will be like for the next generation, given the depth of poverty now and the concern that only half of students who apply for post-secondary education funding are getting approved. The final message from the focus groups was about “abundance”, as opposed to poverty. From a First Nations perspective, the critical components of “an abundant life” are self-identity,

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purpose and meaning, hope and belonging – the same elements that are at the centre of a First Nations cultural framework on mental wellness.12

The Need for Action: Where to Go from Here Research shows that poverty contributes to poor health and shorter life expectancy. Poverty is earmarked by inadequate nutrition and a related predisposition towards obesity; overcrowded living quarters; chronic stress due to insufficient income; and financial barriers to accessing health care, social services and employment supports.13 The incidence of poor mental health is far more pronounced in lower income groups14. Poverty is correlated with crime; low literacy and numeracy skill levels increase the likelihood of criminal offenses.15 Action is needed now to alleviate poverty in First Nations communities, if for no other reason than the escalating costs of doing nothing. In Ontario First Nations communities, people are acutely aware of poverty and its impacts, yet feel powerless to address it. Based on the deteriorating health and social conditions of Ontario First Nations as demonstrated in the statistical profile above and the focus group input, action is needed now to alleviate the severe poverty and the sense of hopelessness prevalent in communities. A wellness-focused, strength-based approach is required to empower and equip communities to take action. Culture-based models such as the Mental Wellness Continuum Framework can be utilized as a foundation for action to turn the current crisis conditions in First Nations communities into stable, positive and self-sufficient environments. First Nations engagement will be required at every step including defining how a collaborative process to address First Nations poverty will look. Recent commitments made through the Leaders in the Legislature will be an important component of building a collaborative plan. In working together, First Nations will look to Treasury Board Secretariat and specifically the Ontario Poverty Reduction Strategy Office to play a pivotal role in building the economy, creating jobs and protecting the most vulnerable within Ontario First Nations communities. First Nations will look to Ministries to fulfill their mandates working in cooperation with First Nations and within the context of First Nations community needs. A two-pronged strategy will be required to move forward, including short-term and immediate targeted funding to address crisis-level needs and long-term overarching support. While the Chiefs of Ontario work on a First Nations-led process for long term and sustainable poverty reduction strategies, the immediate needs of communities must be focused on and targeted actions taken right away, especially for communities severely lacking in basic infrastructure including clean water, sanitation, housing, roads, education, health, employment and emergency services. We need to work to avoid tragedies like the Pikangikum house fire which was a direct result of chronic poverty and third world living conditions. It is recommended that a list of immediate needs is prepared and action plan with timelines submitted to the OPRSO.

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First Nations will be submitting a proposal to the Ontario Poverty Reduction Strategy Office for the implementation of pilot projects in a select group of communities that will be framed within a community wellness continuum that is culturally-informed and strength-based. Further to a March 21, 2016 meeting with the OPRSO it was agreed that Chiefs of Ontario and OPRSO would establish some effective work processes. They will meet and communicate regularly; a “roadmap” setting out these processes will be developed with clear goals, timelines and accountability mechanisms to guide continued discussions and collaboration between Chiefs of Ontario and OPRSO and to assist and support communities in accessing available funding for local poverty reduction initiatives. Current First Nations work is expected to continue on issues such as culturally-specific solutions to improving child welfare outcomes and an upcoming First Nations social summit in collaboration with Ministries to examine the 1965 Welfare Agreement. The Chiefs of Ontario’s Social Unit has been meeting with the Political Confederacy, Chiefs Committee on Social and the Senior Technicians regarding inherent jurisdiction with regards to Child Welfare. Outcomes from all such tables should be utilized to inform progress in the overarching poverty reduction work by Ontario First Nations. The Chiefs of Ontario will continue to advocate for the review of this agreement with a view to ways and means of ensuring that First Nations receive access to all services available to other Ontarians.

Priority Action Areas The following is a comprehensive list of priority areas for action to reduce Ontario First Nations poverty. These have been identified based on the focus group input and informed by research and recent discussions among Ontario First Nations leadership and youth. Sustainable Community Economic Development: 

Support for community-based, responsible economic development activity that sustains/enhances environmental and individual health and well-being

Employment Creation, Skill Training and Equity:  Support for innovative, community-based job creation activity  Support for skill training in employment-specific occupations and in “soft” skills (interpersonal and communication skills, goal-setting, etc)  Examination of and support for measures to ensure pay equity in First Nations jobs Culture, Education and Parenting:  

Support for land-based and community-based processes to share and affirm cultural values, traditions and identity Support for enhanced literacy and numeracy skill development in First Nations community schools, early learning centres, homes and workplaces Ontario First Nations Position Paper: Poverty Action Now (DRAFT–NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION) April 12, 2016

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Support for parenting skills that promote family well-being, cultural identity and skills for learning and growing

Food Security:  

Support for innovative projects to grow, transport and distribute food to First Nations communities more cheaply and quickly and reduce food prices Support for community-based food production, processing and distribution activity

Holistic Health, Life Promotion:   

Support for awareness, treatment and aftercare for those involved in substance use Support for innovative health care approaches to prevent and treat chronic health conditions Support for a full range of mental and emotional health services to address chronic depression, anxiety, stress, suicidal ideation and other conditions related to community poverty and dysfunction

Social Assistance, Child Protection: 

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Engage First Nations in reviewing and revising restrictive regulations that impede First Nations social supports and efforts to transition to employment and in implementing new fiscal relationships to ensure full, equitable support for First Nations social services Ensure that First Nations jurisdiction in child welfare is paramount in system change and that new fiscal relationships ensure full, equitable support for First Nations child welfare services

Community Safety, Ending Violence: 

Engage First Nations and ensure that strategic plans to end violence are fully developed, implemented and resourced

Many of these and other priorities are highlighted in the Calls to Action contained in the July 2015 final report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission16. Ontario First Nations call upon Ontario to engage with First Nations on an urgent basis with a view to ensuring that these and other priorities related to poverty reduction, as determined by First Nations, will be fully addressed. While the list is long, a number of joint working groups and other collaborative processes are underway to address several of these priorities and it is recommended that their progress be supported and reported within the context of the poverty reduction work. The following framework and specific actions are recommended to move the First Nations poverty reduction agenda forward.

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Nation-to-Nation Relationships In terms of First Nations involvement in poverty reduction or other provincial initiatives, First Nations by virtue of their sovereignty and Nationhood have inherent rights and jurisdiction over their territories and resources. Section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982 recognizes and affirms the existing aboriginal and treaty rights of the aboriginal peoples of Canada (“aboriginal” meaning Indian, Inuit and Métis).17 First Nations engagement with the provincial and federal governments is on a nation-to-nation basis. This relationship between First Nations and external governments is further affirmed in the 2015 Political Accord between First Nations and the Government of Ontario that recognizes First Nations’ inherent right to self-government and requires the relationship between the province and First Nations to be based on respect for this right. In this Accord, First Nations and Ontario agree to build upon and link to existing bilateral or other community-led initiatives, and to work together to identify and address common priorities and issues.

UNDRIP Rights At the international level, Indigenous rights are recognized in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples,18 adopted by the UN General Assembly in 2007 and ratified by Canada in 2010. The Declaration recognizes Indigenous rights to lands and resources; the right of free, prior and informed consent; access to all health and social services without discrimination; and equal right to enjoy the highest standard of physical and mental health. Under Article 21 of the UNDRIP, Indigenous peoples have the right, without discrimination, to the improvement of their economic and social conditions, including in the areas of education, employment, vocational training and retraining, housing, sanitation, health and social security. The UNDRIP requires States to take effective and special measures to ensure continuing improvement of Indigenous peoples’ economic and social conditions, paying particular attention to the special needs of elders, women, youth, children and persons with disabilities. Item #43 in the Calls for Action issued by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada calls for federal, provincial, territorial and municipal governments to fully adopt the UNDRIP as the framework for reconciliation. Item #44 calls upon Canada to develop a national action plan and strategies to achieve the goals set out in the UNDRIP. A March 2016 session of the United Nations Committee on Economic, Cultural and Social Rights in Geneva included presentations by an Indigenous women’s delegation with Ontario First Nations representatives. The UN committee’s report following this session highlighted barriers to the enjoyment of First Nations rights including a lack of social welfare programs, education, protection of Indigenous culture and Treaty rights, and discrimination. The lack of basic necessities such as safe, potable water on reserve was flagged as unacceptable given Canadian standards.

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Federal Initiatives The federal Budget announced March 22, 2016 commits $8.4B over five years to improving socio-economic conditions in Indigenous communities. Half of this total is designated for education, children and training; $2.2B is earmarked for green infrastructure on-reserve including improving water quality. Another $1.2B is designated for social infrastructure including on-reserve housing, shelters, early learning/child care and cultural and recreational infrastructure. The January 2016 Canadian Human Rights Tribunal decision called for immediate federal action in collaboration with First Nations to develop a new system of child welfare on-reserve and to ensure safety, equity and fairness for First Nations children and families. The 2016 federal Budget commits $635M out of the education, children and training funds to this end, and an additional $40M for a national inquiry into missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls. This Budget commitment also responds to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Call for Action specific to reducing the number of Aboriginal children in care. In addition to these initiatives, the federal government has mandated the Minister of Families, Children and Social Development to lead the development of a national poverty reduction strategy that would set targets to reduce poverty and measure progress, in alignment with provincial strategies.

Provincial Initiatives Following the release of the final report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, in December 2015 Premier Wynne and Aboriginal Affairs Minister Zimmer issued a joint statement highlighting the Province’s commitment to take action to close gaps in outcomes, build culturally sensitive and community-based services and to teach the history and legacy of residential schools. These commitments are included in the provincial budget for April 2016. The Ontario Poverty Reduction Strategy (PRS), launched in 2009, focused on breaking the intergenerational cycle of poverty through supports for children and in its second phase (201419) has recommitted to alleviating poverty in children and youth and set additional targets such as ending homelessness and moving toward employment and income security for vulnerable groups including First Nations. Approximately 60 provincial government initiatives are listed as components of the PRS including increasing the minimum wage; raising the Ontario Child Benefit; full-day kindergarten; the After School Program; increasing Parenting and Family Literacy Centres; funding local community revitalization; reviewing social assistance to reduce barriers and support the transition from welfare to employment and several other initiatives. The Strategy includes a Local Poverty Reduction Fund (LPRF), an investment of $50M over six years to support and evaluate innovative, community-led projects to measurably improve the lives of those most impacted by poverty. A minimum of $2M of the Local Poverty Reduction Fund has been earmarked for Indigenous communities and organizations in Ontario.

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Recommended Actions It is recommended that: 1. This position paper be shared with the Governments of Ontario and Canada as a work in progress, to table First Nations concerns and set out the processes desired by First Nations for addressing poverty now; 2. There be immediate and focused poverty reduction action to support those specific Ontario First Nations communities where the most deplorable conditions exist; communities which have been compared to the world’s poorest. These communities, to be identified by Ontario First Nations as an urgent priority, include those severely lacking in basic infrastructure including clean water, sanitation, housing, roads, education, health, employment and emergency services, and/or those where critical incidents are putting the health and wellness of community members at greatest risk; 3. Comprehensive Ontario First Nations community engagement and initial community development be supported in 2016 to develop strategic First Nations community poverty reduction measures and re-build First Nations community wellness and abundance, through dialogue and “asset-mapping” to identify community strengths and resources needed for overcoming the detrimental impacts of poverty on communities; 4. Ontario and Canada set aside funding to support sustained and long-term First Nations strategies for reducing poverty and rebuilding First Nations community wellness and abundance, to be identified through the community engagement and development process; 5. Ontario support pilot projects in a select group of Ontario First Nations communities through a Chiefs of Ontario proposal to the Local Poverty Reduction Fund, utilizing the First Nations Mental Wellness Continuum Framework as a culturally-informed, strength-based foundation for supporting community work to effectively reduce First Nations poverty; 6. Following community engagement and development on poverty, Ontario First Nations review and revise priorities for action in areas such as mental health and addictions; social assistance reform; children and youth; justice; violence; lands and resources and community economic development; training, education and employment and others; and 7. A trilateral Ontario First Nations Poverty Table be established with Ontario (OPRSO, MAA, MCYS, MOHLTC and MCSS), and Canada (INAC, ESDC, HC and Families, Children and Social Development) to ensure Ontario First Nation-specific involvement in all planning and development related to poverty reduction and determining immediate priorities and target areas for action in the short-term and addressing systemic federal/provincial/First Nations policy and funding barriers in the long-term.

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1

Canadian Human Rights Tribunal. January 26, 2016 Decision. First Nations Child and Family Caring Society of Canada and Assembly of First Nations, Complainants. http://www.afn.ca/uploads/files/2016_chrt_2.pdf 2 Report of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples. 1996, Canada. 3 Honouring the Truth, Reconciling the Future. Summary of the Final Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, 2015. http://www.trc.ca/websites/trcinstitution/File/2015/Honouring_the_Truth_Reconciling_for_the_Future_July_23_ 2015.pdf 4 A Starving Man Doesn’t Argue: A review of community social services to Indians in Ontario. A report prepared for the Tripartite Social Services Review Committee by Technical Assistance and Planning Associates Ltd. 1979. 5 The RHS Phase II collected input from a total of 1,500 First Nation adults (age 18 or older), 600 youth (age 12-17) and parents/guardians of 770 children living in 24 Ontario First Nations communities. See http://www.chiefs-ofontario.org/sites/default/files/files/First%20Nations%20Regional%20Health%20Survey%20%28RHS%29%20Phase %202%20%2808-10%29%20Ontario%20Region%20Final%20Report%2012nov01v8.pdf 6

Population aged 15 and over by total income, 2010, Ontario and Canada. NHS, Statistics Canada. http://www12.statcan.gc.ca/nhs-enm/2011/as-sa/fogs-spg/Pages/FOG.cfm?lang=E&level=2&GeoCode=35 7 2010 Report Card on Child and Family Poverty in Ontario. Ontario Campaign 2000, Toronto. http://www.campaign2000.ca/reportCards/provincial/Ontario/2010OntarioReportCardEnglish.pdf 8 Poverty or Prosperity: Indigenous Children in Canada. David Macdonald and Daniel Wilson, Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. June, 2013. https://www.policyalternatives.ca/sites/default/files/uploads/publications/National%20Office/2013/06/Poverty_o r_Prosperity_Indigenous_Children.pdf 9 Ibid. 10 2002/2003 Ontario First Nations Regional Heath Survey. Chiefs of Ontario. http://www.chiefs-ofontario.org/sites/default/files/files/Regional%20Health%20Survey%202002-2003.pdf 11 Trends in diabetes prevalence, incidence, and mortality in Ontario, Canada 1995–2005: a population-based study”. Lancet 2007. Lorraine Lipscombe, Janet Hux. http://people.stfx.ca/x2009/x2009hsg/Diabetes%20and%20trends%20in%20Ontario.pdf 12 As set out in the First Nations Mental Wellness Continuum Framework, developed by the Thunderbird Partnership Foundation (formerly the National Native Addictions Partnership Foundation). http://nnapf.com/firstnations-mental-wellness-continuum-framework/ 13 Statistics Canada. Cited in The Cost of Poverty: An Analysis of the Economic Cost of Poverty in Ontario. Nate Laurie, Ontario Association of Food Banks, Nov. 2008. http://www.oafb.ca/assets/pdfs/CostofPoverty.pdf 14 Ibid. 15 Ibid. 16 Honouring the Truth, Reconciling for the Future: Summary of the Final Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. July 23, 2015. http://www.trc.ca/websites/trcinstitution/File/2015/Honouring_the_Truth_Reconciling_for_the_Future_July_23_ 2015.pdf 17 Constitution Act, 1982. http://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/Const/page-16.html 18 http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unpfii/documents/DRIPS_en.pdf

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