Issues relating to the province

To: Ontario

  1. In order to serve the best interests of First Nations youth in a collaborative fashion, continue to implement the Ontario Indigenous Children and Youth Strategy (formerly the Aboriginal Children and Youth Strategy) with Indigenous communities and organizations including NAN. This strategy will address the priority of improving outcomes and opportunities for First Nations children and youth, including the specific needs of those in remote northern communities, and will focus on the needs of children and youth through community-driven holistic services that recognize culture and identity as foundational.
  2. Through the Ministry of Education, work with First Nation communities, in collaboration with district schools boards, to share currently existing ministry- developed education resources, reference materials and professional learning related to any provincial policies, programs or initiatives upon request of the First Nation schools and/or educators.
  3. In order to foster greater collaboration between First Nation schools and provincially-funded schools, through the Ministry of Education, engage with First Nation communities to identify opportunities to share information and expertise to support capacity building within First Nation schools.
  4. Through the Ministry of Education, work with First Nations communities, school boards, and the federal government to address issues related to tuition agreements.
  5. Through the Ministry of Education, work with NAN through the Education Partnership Program to foster local relationships between school boards and First Nation communities in order to support student transitions between provincially-funded schools and First Nation schools.
  6. Through the Ministry of Education, continue ongoing work regarding supports for students experiencing racism and continue to work with its partners to support the learning in the curriculum to address this issue.
  7. Through the Anti-Racism Directorate, undertake research and engage with Indigenous communities to develop an Indigenous-informed Anti-Racism public education and awareness campaign.
  8. Through the Ministry of Education, expand its work with partners, including First Nation, Métis and Inuit partners, to develop authentic resources that support learning about Indigenous histories, cultures, issues, perspectives and contributions in the curriculum and that build educator capacity to deliver the learning for all students with confidence and competence.
  9. Through the Ministry of Education, work with the ministry’s School College Work Initiative (SCWI) partners to expand opportunities for more students from DFCHS to explore and pursue postsecondary pathways through participation in dual credit programs with Confederation College. In addition, the ministry should explore opportunities to expand dual credit programing to students at MLC. The Northwestern Ontario SCWI Regional Planning Team includes representatives from Confederation College and eight district school boards including the Lakehead and the Thunder Bay Catholic District School Boards.

Issues relating to the Office of the Chief Coroner

To: The Office of the Chief Coroner

  1. In order to track and analyze death rates of First Nations youth on and off-reserve, The Office of the Chief Coroner should develop a process or protocol to improve data collection and analysis.
  2. The Office of the Chief Coroner should explore new approaches to providing coroner services to remote areas through consultation with communities affected.
  3. In order to ensure consistency in all sudden death investigations, wherever possible, and taking into account the resources available in a community, coroners on call should coordinate their schedules to avoid other responsibilities that would prevent them from attending a scene.
  4. The Office of the Chief Coroner should work in partnership with Indigenous leadership and communities to develop a communications protocol for communications between the coroner’s office and Indigenous peoples which prioritizes communication with the families.
  5. The Office of the Chief Coroner should amend policies to allow for extended family members to access information about the deceased, consistent with legislation.
  6. At the Annual Education Course for Coroners and Pathologists in 2017, the progress/results from recommendations 130 through 134 should be presented and discussed.