Feds Pledge To Provide $305 Million For Indigenous Communities To Manage Corona Virus Crisis
Image Credit – Global News
The latest news from Ottawa states that the federal government has reportedly announced an additional amount of $305 million to help the Indigenous people combat COVIS-19.
As per the statement made by Indigenous Minister Marc Miller, the money is meant to help the Indigenous communities to prepare for emergencies and also to prevent the spread of the new corona virus.
He further added that the communities can use the money for a variety of other causes that include helping elders and other vulnerable people, take care of food insecurity, and educational and other kinds of support for children, and also mental health assistance.
The new money is set to flow through the Indigenous community support fund, which would bring the total amount to approximately $685 million this year.
Some part of the funding will also go to the First Nations who are living off-reserve as well as Inuit and Metis people who are living in the urban centers, and the distribution shall be made based on need through an application process
Miller stated that Ottawa is committed to ensuring that the Indigenous leaders have the required tools ad support they need to implement further through the various aspects of their pandemic plans.
He added that this funding will necessarily provide crucial support to the key community initiatives that strive to prevent, prepare for, and also respond to the COVID-19 in First Nations, Inuit, and Metis communities.
He further continued by saying that this approach efficiently aligns with their commitment to support the Indigenous leadership’s approaches to community wellness while simultaneously providing the flexibility to respond to the emerging needs. For example, the measure can be held in response to an outbreak like COVID-19.
So far there have been 425 confirmed cases of COVID-19 on First Nations reserves with 34 people being hospitalized. Out of these, 393 have recovered from the coronavirus. Apart from these, 17 cases have also been reported in the Nunavik region in northern Quebec. However, all have successfully recovered.
The federal government has acknowledged the fact that the COVID-19 case counts among the Indigenous Peoples do not reflect the true impact on the Indigenous communities and also the individuals, as they only capture the statistics from those who are living on reserves or in Inuit territories. News has it that the majority of the Indigenous people in Canada live off-reserve.
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