Statistics Canada Report Confirms Inuit Children Suffer from Lack of Food and Shelter

“The data released today by Statistics Canada on Inuit Health and Social Conditions notes that 31% of all Inuit in Canada live in crowded homes compared to 3% of the Canadian population. That’s 10 times higher, and completely unacceptable in a G-8 nation,” said Mary Simon. “We are in tough economic times, I know, but we are also looking at an economic stimulus package in the billions of dollars. There is a federal housing program scheduled to end in March 2009. This is the time to renew and expand that program.”

 

The housing data was one of several areas covered in the Aboriginal Peoples Survey, conducted in the four Inuit regions in 2005-2006. “We can see the links from the poor housing conditions on the overall health of Inuit and on our education outcomes as well,” says Mary Simon. “From 2001 to 2006 the rates of chronic conditions among Inuit has risen from 34% to 44%. High school completion rates are still only at 51% of the population.”

 

The national Inuit leader is also concerned about the issue of food security for Inuit children. The data indicates that 30% of Inuit children had at some point gone hungry because the family had run out of food or money to buy food. “Our children are our future, and we cannot fail them by allowing them to grow up in overcrowded housing, going hungry, and not supporting them in school,” said Mary Simon. “We want to stress again the extreme high cost of living in Arctic communities, the lack of employment opportunities, and the fact that Inuit are among the highest taxpayers in Canada. We want to work with the government of Canada to ensure programs such as Food Mail, economic development initiatives, and fiscal equity are maintained and expanded for Inuit as today’s data shows a glaring need for.”

 

Ms. Simon also highlighted some bright spots in today’s data. “I am pleased to note that Inuit continue to harvest country food at a high rate. This for Inuit supports our culture, and provides the healthiest food. The vast majority of adults (68%) harvested country foods. This includes seal, caribou, whale, ducks, fish and berries. The statistics show that 8 in 10 Inuit households share food with others and this is important to us, especially in light of the food insecurity we experience in the Arctic.”

 

The ITK President also acknowledged the fact that Inuit have extremely high smoking rates. “We are aware of this and have developed a draft Inuit Tobacco Reduction Strategy,” said Ms. Simon. “The strategy clearly indicates the factors contributing to high rates of smoking – one of which is poverty. Inuit society was traditionally smoke-free. Our goal is to return to a smoke-free Inuit society. In 2008 the federal government cut our funding for this program.”

 

Ms. Simon concluded by noting that the 2006 Aboriginal Peoples Survey was developed with input from ITK, the four Inuit regions, and Laval University. “I applaud Statistics Canada for working directly with Inuit to develop the survey, and including Inuit in the execution of the survey between 2006-2007. I am pleased Statistics Canada is working with very specific Inuit data and has acknowledged our differing geographic and cultural realities rather than releasing ‘pan-Aboriginal statistics’. Other federal departments should follow this lead. We are building up comparative Inuit data over time. This will help us improve our health and strengthen our society.”