Manitoba residential school survivors set Alberta course to see Pope

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Indigenous leaders and bioscience professionals are gathering this week to promote health-care technology in northern communities.

Bioscience Association Manitoba is hosting its second annual Indigenous Health Innovations conference on Thursday, a day after the World Indigenous Business Forum ends its Winnipeg tenure.

“We fly a lot of people in the North to get access for care for things that technology can actually give them,” said Andrea Ladouceur, Bioscience Association Manitoba’s president.

For example, Manitobans may hop on a plane for a strep throat test when they don’t need to, she said.

There is much attention paid to helping those who become homeless, but all too little attention given to preventing homelessness in the first place.

About one quarter of all the people experiencing homelessness are seniors, according to the most recent End Homelessness Winnipeg report. This represents a fundamental failure of our province to prevent homelessness.

Ending homelessness where it has become chronic should not be considered the end point in addressing homelessness. It is like trying to solve the problem of water on your kitchen floor by mopping it up, without considering the importance of turning off the tap so that water does not continue flowing over the edge of the sink.

Preventing homelessness in seniors is achievable. We have many resources and many organizations which support seniors, but they are fragmented, poorly co-ordinated, inadequately, funded in some cases, and have not sufficiently focused their efforts on preventing homelessness in seniors. Too many seniors are falling through the cracks.

Imagine being a young athlete who loves volleyball but attends a school without a net or even a ball.

For many students in Winnipeg, access to basic sporting equipment is something they rarely think about.

However, during my visit to Red Sucker Lake First Nation in northern Manitoba, I witnessed a very different reality. The local school did not have volleyball nets or balls. As someone who has had the opportunity to compete in volleyball across Canada and internationally, this experience made me realize how easily we take these opportunities for granted.

How can we expect young Indigenous athletes to discover their potential when they don’t even have the basic equipment needed to play? Talent and determination can exist in every community but without access to opportunities, that potential may never be realized.