First Nations student deaths in Thunder Bay inquest raise questions about racism: Minister Hajdu

Change in language and acknowledge of issues:

A “swirling storm” of racism and discrimination is killing indigenous people in Thunder Bay, Ont., says Patty Hajdu, an MP for the northwestern Ontario city and minister for the status of women.

Hajdu said her experience running a homeless shelter in Thunder Bay, before becoming a Liberal cabinet minister last year, showed her the deadly consequences of racism.

Thunder Bay Superior-North MP Patty Hajdu says ‘institutional racism’ sends the message to citizens that it’s OK to be racist. (Martine Laberge/Radio-Canada)

Speaking outside the inquest into the deaths of seven First Nations students in the city, Hajdu said racism is a sad reality of life, and death, for indigenous people in the city.

“There’s a swirling storm of racism and discrimination against people who use substances and people who are in poverty, and it all comes together in a perfect storm where people are actually dying, because they can’t access the services they need,” she said.

Several friends and classmates of the students who died have testified at the inquest about experiences of racism in Thunder Bay after they moved from their remote First Nations to attend high school in the city.

Source: First Nations student deaths in Thunder Bay inquest raise questions about racism – Thunder Bay – CBC News