I'll move on to speak to some of the challenges, and then I'm into what we're calling on this committee.
I'm appalled, on a daily basis, at the lack of knowledge by bureaucracy at all levels in this country on who Inuit are and where and how we live.
In closing, Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami and the Inuit of Canada call upon the Standing Committee on Health to support the creation of an Inuit-specific annex to the Canadian pandemic plan, support the mass immunization of the remote communities as high priorities once the H1N1 vaccine is available, and begin the very serious work of addressing the social determinants of health that keep Inuit in Canada on the bottom of the health status scale.
Food security and access to health care must be improved. There are significant issues of social injustice that must be addressed. Canada must set target dates for the reduction of the number of persons living in a household until it resembles that of the average Canadian. The life expectancy of the Inuit should be rising, not falling, as it continues to do so.
At the end of the day, Canada will be judged on what efforts are made to improve health for all, and in particular for Inuit.
Nakurmiik.