In a former life, I was the executive director of health for first nations in the north. We put in programs. We had an epidemic of suicide crises in the north in B.C. We worked with foreign nations to put together programs to try to address those things.
The unfortunate aspect is that funding within first nations communities is often inadequate to deal with mental health issues and to deal with home care. There's very limited disability-related funding that is provided, and access to clinicians is very difficult. You're looking at six months to a year or two longer in northern communities and sometimes even longer.
The distrust with government and government agencies still exists as well. Anti-indigenous racism in Canada has gone up exponentially over the last couple of years, and racism within health care is rampant. We know the cases of Joyce Echaquan and Keegan Combes. We know about the “In Plain Sight” report. There's all of this apprehension to go out and seek something—outside the community where your family is, where your supports are or where you are part of a community—in other communities and systems where you may not even be welcomed.
As has been noted, there are limited economic opportunities within communities and limited infrastructure. Some communities are dealing with massive housing problems. Again, the whole thing is the lack of availability of mental health services, and it's a struggle that has continued for a long time.