Anti-Indigenous racism has profound negative impacts on the health and wellness of Indigenous people, their families, and their communities in Canada. Deep-seated racism within our health care systems have made it unsafe for many Indigenous peoples to access the services and care they need.

On January 13, 2021 at 6 p.m. Eastern, Unifor Education will host a webinar to hear from Indigenous leaders about identifying the systemic racism and barriers to proper care.

“Non-Indigenous and non-racialized Canadians take our quality of public health care for granted,” said Jerry Dias, Unifor National President. “The fact is that the right to health care is not enjoyed equally by all. Our union’s anti-racism work must also extend into the systemic racism inside public services such as health care.”

Panelists for the webinar include Dr. Alika Lafontaine, and Indigenous physician of Cree and Anishinaabe heritage from Southern Saskatchewan/Treaty 4 territory and Cheryl Ward, the Interim Director of Indigenous Health and the Provincial Lead for the San’yas Indigenous Cultural Safety Training program at the BC Provincial Health Services Authority. The webinar will be moderated by Unifor’s Indigenous Liaison Gina Smoke. To register, email onlineeducation@unifor.org. Registration is required.