Cuts to Aboriginal Health Research

The Question

Given recent cuts to Aboriginal health research, how does the government plan to include Aboriginal expertise, opinions, lived realities, values, and traditional practices in public health research?

The Background

In 2012 the Canadian Government cut funding to the National Aboriginal Health Organization (NAHO). More recently they have proposed cuts to the Institute for Aboriginal Peoples Health (IAPH). What impact will these cuts have on health research by and for Aboriginal community members? The Public Health Agency of Canada claims to be promoting health equity and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) are championing a model of “two-eyed seeing” designed to balance the strengths of both Western science and Aboriginal ways of understanding health. Such efforts are crucial for ensuring the development and implementation of culturally sensitive and culturally appropriate policies and health interventions. These are admirable goals, since Aboriginal health research can only be successful if it is based on mutual respect, co-equal power relations, and collaboration between Aboriginal community members and healthcare professionals.  What will happen to Aboriginal knowledge in health research as CIHR begins to phase out its Aboriginal-specific peer review process? What is Canada doing to foster a research culture that takes seriously the unique social, political and environmental factors contributing to major Aboriginal health concerns? See below for more information.

Your Letter to Federal Scientists and Ministers

Dear Dr. Nicolas Gilbert,

Your research on stillbirth and infant mortality rates within Aboriginal communities in Quebec highlights some of the unique challenges facing researchers charged with understanding and communicating health risks and best practices to Canadian Aboriginal populations. As your work points out, Aboriginal communities “are disadvantaged in relation to the rest of the province’s population” (Gilbert et al. 2015: 6) in terms of maternal and infant health. Your research comes at a troubling time when Aboriginal issues seem to be underrepresented in Canadian health research. With recent cuts to funding for the National Aboriginal Health Organization and the Institute for Aboriginal Peoples Health, it is unclear how systemic issues such as poverty, education, lack of access to public health resources, and other social determinants of health can be addressed and overcome if Aboriginal community members are not actively engaged in the research process itself.

Given your role as a senior epidemiologist working for the Public Health Agency of Canada, what are the impacts of these cuts on your efforts to include of Aboriginal expertise, opinions, lived realities, values, and traditional practices in your research? With these cuts how can we guarantee that Aboriginal community members are actively involved in the process of defining both health risks and best practices in Canadian health research?

I am writing this email as part of Write2Know (https://write2know.ca) a letter-writing campaign that aims to mobilize public awareness and inquiry into federal research programs. We want to let you know that we value federal science and scientists, and that our questions arise out of genuine concerns about the health and well-being of Canadians.

We are concerned about constraints on access to federal scientists and the results of their research, the elimination of essential research programs, and the closure of libraries and archives. These constraints and closures impact what Canadians can and cannot know about the health of their bodies, communities, and environments.

We are posing questions to federal scientists about their research and findings, and forwarding our letters to federal Ministers and Members of Parliament to call attention to serious gaps between scientific evidence and government policy.

I look forward to your response.

Sincerely,

[Your name]

cc The Honourable Rona Ambrose, Minister of Health
The Honourable Dr. K. Kellie Leitch, Minister of Labour and Minister of Status of Women
The Honourable Bernard Valcourt Minister of Aboriginal Affairs
The Honourable Mylène Freeman, NDP Critic on the Status of Women
The Honorable Kristy Duncan, Liberal Critic on the Status of Women
The Honourable Niki Ashton, NDP Critic of Aboriginal Affairs
The Honourable Carolyn Bennet, Liberal Critic of Aboriginal Affairs
The Honourable Murray Rankin, NDP Critic of Health
The Honourable Hedy Fry, Liberal Critic of Health
The Honourable Wayne Marston, NDP Critic of Human Rights

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More Information

“National Aboriginal Health Organizations funding cut” CBC News, April 9, 2012.

Triana Roache, “Scientists sound alarm on looming aboriginal health research crisis” APTN News, December 4, 2015.

Paul Christopher Webster, “Aboriginal health programming under siege, critics charge” Canadian Medical Association Journal, September 2012.

Aboriginal Health Research Steering Committee Response to emerging crisis between CIHR and the Aboriginal health research community November 2014.

Gilbert, et al (2015). “Stillbirth and infant mortality rates in Aboriginal communities in Quebec” Statistics Canada Health Reports, 26(2), 3-8

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