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Canada's Indigenous call for national suicide strategy
[Al Jazeera] Indigenous leaders in Canada are calling for a national strategy to combat a suicide crisis in their communities, after two 12-year-old girls did away with himself earlier this month.Wapekeka First Nation in northern Ontario is "in a state of shock, grief, and crisis" after Jolynn Winter and Chantel Fox, both 12, died after committing suicide on Jan. 8 and 10, respectively. Local leaders say they discovered that several youth in the fly-in, Oji-Cree community had entered into a "suicide pact" last year. But they say the federal government turned down their request for additional health funding to prevent the suicides. "Our community plan was turned down by government and now two are dead," said Joshua Frogg, a spokesperson for the community, in a statement on Wednesday. Located in northwestern Ontario, about 600 kilometres north of Thunder Bay, Wapekeka First Nation is home to about 430 residents. "I can't believe I had to bury my daughter. It was so hard to say goodbye," said Sandra Fox, Chantel’s mother. "I honestly didn't think I could survive losing Chantel." Since the girls' deaths, four other local children were flown out of the community ‐ it is not accessible by road ‐ to be placed on 24-hour suicide watch, while 24 others have been identified as high risk for suicide. "Every community member is deeply affected. These children could be alive today and their deaths preventable," Frogg said. Posted by: Fred 2017-01-20 |
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