Same old, same old

So, the whopping drug overdose and death figures among natives are caused by.....wait for it....colonialism!

Yep, you could have predicted it the minute the First Nations Health Authority put fingers to keyboard to whack out a report.  Apparently, the fact that natives have three times more overdoses and deaths is a result of "colonialism, displacement, inter-generational trauma and systemic and institutional racism," says Shannon McDonald, deputy chief medical officer of the FNHA.  And just for good measure, Grand Chief Doug Kelly threw in "unresolved grief and spiritual pain."

Another biggie is residential schools -- known in other cultures as boarding schools.  Apparently, natives only feel comfortable accessing health services (for which they pay nothing) when, "it is appropriate to their wellness beliefs, goals and needs.  Traditional healing practices and medicines are an important part of First Nations health, but not currently well-integrated within the broader health system," the report bemoans.  So let's just use drugs instead.  Brilliant.

All of Western Europe and Britain renounced colonialism generations ago, but here in Canada, the natives are demanding it be kept alive via their never-ending blame game.  

I'm sick of it.  Time to move on.

The answer lies in getting off the reserves and becoming integrated within mainstream Canadian society.  But as I say over and over, it'll never happen because the Indian Act and the reserve system are the mechanisms through which the money flows to native leaders.  That's the ugly stench of truth no one wants to smell.