Thank you.
I forgot to look up the composition of the task force, but that would be one question: What was the composition of the task force? Were there any cancer survivors or caregivers? Was there diversity representing the multicultural and multi-ethnic nature of Canada?
Also, how open-minded was the task force itself in the consultations that they conducted? As you noted, many people have complained or pointed out that they were not consulted.
Another question I would have for the chair is whether they are aware that the American Association for Cancer Research, or AACR—three or four years ago, so not that recently—added racism as a social determinant of health and a risk factor for cancer development. That means marginalized communities that experience significant levels of racism. Here in Canada, that would specifically pertain to Black and indigenous communities.
What it means is that this racism has resulted in epigenetic changes to our DNA. Those aren't mutations; they're just marks that are added to our DNA that are passed on through the intergenerational trauma from that racism. In Dr. Caron's case, for example, these epigenetic marks could have been from her ancestors and how they were treated in residential schools. In my case, they could be from how my ancestors were treated as slaves. I have inherited those epigenetic marks without even knowing it was happening—