Indigenous People’s Rights: Canada’s Systemic Violation of Bodily Autonomy

Of Canada’s nearly 40 million people, the Indigenous populous accounts for 5% of its population.

The biggest populations of whom reside in the north of the nation: Yukon, Nunavut, and the northwest territories.   

For such a sizeable percentage of the population, combined with Canada being known, at least internationally, as a stereotypically friendly nation, especially in comparison to its southern neighbor, the treatment of Indigenous communities’ safety and well-being can only be termed negligent, shocking, and horrifying.

Known as First Nations, the greater than 6000 communities endure significant health issues in comparison to other Canadians.

Case in point, among the Indigenous youth suicide rates are six times larger than their counterparts, along with First Nations people’s life expectancy being around 14 years less than other Canadians. 

This above situation was not helped by the fact that up until the 1990s, Indigenous people were, for the most part, handled in racially segregated hospitals where cases of rampant abuse were reported.

Furthermore, years after a number of other rich nations halted forcible sterilizations, Indigenous women, doctors, numerous activists, politicians, and at least five class-action lawsuits clearly indicate that said barbaric practice has not ended in Canada. 

Case In point, 2022 saw the Canadian Senate release a report which found that;

“this horrific practice is not confined to the past, but clearly is continuing today.” 

A horrific practice with a long and violent history.

A Known History of Dehumanisation 

Over the prior seventy years, thousands of Indigenous Canadian women were forcibly sterilized, in line with the eugenics policy that determined them as inferior. 

A practice termed by the Gevena Conventions as a crime against humanity and a type of genocide.

Canada, in 2018, was informed by the U.N. Committee Against Torture about the recurring reports of forced sterilisation, commenting that all allegations should be investigated with those found culpable held accountable. 

While Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, in 2019, recognised that the disappearances and murder of Indigenous women across Canada were tantamount to “genocide”, activists state that a minimal amount has been done to tackle the ingrained prejudices against the Indigenous peoples, which permit forced sterilizations to persist.    

But exactly how extensive is this practice?

Taking Stock 

While there are no concrete estimates on the number of women being sterilized to this day, without or against their knowledge, Indigenous experts have claimed to hear complaints about it routinely. 

Regarding figures, the office of Sen. Yvonne Boyer’s collection of the restricted data available indicates that since the 1970s at least 12,000 women have been affected.

Honing in on a particular situation, we have the case of Dr. Andrew Kotaska.

Abuse of Power 

May 2023 played host to the penalisation of Dr. Kotaska for the forcible sterilization of an Indigenous woman. 

In November 2019, Dr Kotaska was tasked with performing an operation to relieve the abdominal pain of an indigenous woman.

While he had the written consent of the Inuit woman to remove her right fallopian tube, she had not agreed to the removal of her left tube.   

Dr Kotaska took out both fallopian tubes despite the objections from other medical staff present at the surgery, thereby losing both and leaving her sterile. 

There was no medical justification for the sterilization procedure, according to the investigation’s conclusion, along with Dr. Kotaska having been found to have been involved in unprofessional conduct.

Moreover, the investigation found that Kotaska’s “severe error in surgical judgment” cost the patient the opportunity to have more children, was unethical, and could possibly undermine faith in the medical system. 

Not an untrue sentiment given the other tragic stories heard.

Sylvia Tuckanow 

The Senate committee investigating forced sterilizations was informed by Sylvia Tuckanow in 2019 about when she gave birth in July 2001 in a Saskatoon hospital.

She detailed being tied to a bed and disoriented from medication, as she cried.

Tuckanow is quoted as saying; 

“I could smell something burning… When the (doctor) was finished, he said, ‘There: tied, cut and burnt. Nothing will get through that,’”

Referring to her singed fallopian tubes, done so in a procedure to which she hadn’t consented.

 Read: Indigenous Femicide: The Neglected Horror

Morningstar Mercredi

An Alberta-based Indigenous author, Morningstar Mercredi at the age of 14 was sterilized, however, was unaware until decades later when seeking assistance subsequent to not being able to conceive. 

In her 2021 book, ‘Sacred Bundles Unborn’, Mercredi penned;

“I went into a catatonic stage and had a nervous breakdown”. 

Talking to AP News, she stated that the cost to First Nations persons of forced sterilizations was “staggering”, highlighting that the procedures were regarded as routine in Indigenous hospitals and residential schools, stating that;

“These many generations of Indigenous persons denied life is an effective genocide.” 

However, the investigation into these stories is not alone as, in another instance, a previous report uncovered that between 1980 to 2019 in Quebec, where almost two dozen people forced sterilizations took place.

Among those sterilizations was a woman who stated that her doctor informed her after a bladder surgery, that he had, without her consent, removed her uterus at the same time. 

On the other hand, such a disconnect between the patient and medical professionals, and the disastrous outcomes are not shocking once you see what the mindset and state of affairs are within the health profession. 

On The Other Side of the Divide

Regarding those who work in the Medical field, the Canadian Medical Association’s first Indigenous president, Dr. Alika Lafontaine, recalled instances in his own training when it was obscure whether Indigenous women had actually consented to sterilization.  

“In my residency, there were situations where we would do C-sections on patients and someone would lean over and say, ‘So we’ll also clip her (fallopian) tubes,’… It never crossed my mind whether these patients had an informed conversation”

Adding that his assumption was consent gathering occured prior to patients being on the operating table. 

Commenting further, Lafontaine said that numerous First Nations women are forced to fly hundreds of miles south so as to deliver their babies.  

“That happens because we literally did not build any health facilities where Indigenous people live,”

Furthermore, even when accessible facilities are available, there are other issues present.

As talked about by the Paukuutit Inuit Women of Canada’s president, Gerri Sharpe, stated that health centers serving Inuit women, for the most part, aren’t staffed by Indigenous people which culminates in translation issues. 

An example can be taken from Inuit culture where people frequently communicate with facial expressions, such as wrinkling their nose for “no” or raising their eyebrows for “Yes”.

Sharpe said;

“Doctors will be speaking, and they look to the woman to acknowledge something. When she (raises her eyebrows), the doctor labels it as ‘non-responsive,’”

So where does such a systemic and monumental issue like this leave us?

Also read: Coercive Sterilization In Czech Republic: Roma Women Won Against Unlawful Governmental Practice

Outcomes & Response

The forced sterilization Senate report wrote 13 recommendations, including measures to tackle systemic racism in healthcare, compensating victims, and proferring a formal apology.

Responding to AP News’s questions, the government of Canada stated it had taken steps in an attempt to halt forced sterilization, which includes investing greater than 87 million Canadian dollars ($65 million) so as to improve access to health services that are culturally safe. 

Moreover, one-third of the funding supports initiatives for Indigenous midwifery. 

This builds upon their actions taken in 2022 where the government assigned 6.2 million dollars (4.7 million) to aid those who had to endure forced sterilization.  

Furthermore, the government stated that the Senate report was;

“further evidence of a broader need to eliminate racism”

Recognizing that the health system bias;

“continues to have catastrophic effects on First Nations, Inuit, and Metis communities.”

Regarding civil action, there have been, at least, five class-action lawsuits against provincial, health, and federal authorities entailing coerced sterilizations in Saskatchewan, British Columbia, Ontario, Alberta, Quebec, Manitoba, and elsewhere. 

Taking the Fight To Them 

Indigenous people, in all areas of life, are discriminated against.

This systemic discrimination cuts lives short and reduces their overall state of well-being.

While forced sterilization falls within the health sector’s parameters, its overall message encompasses settlers’ mentality towards Native people.

You’re not welcome and we know best.

However, this condensation has not been taken lying down.

Indigenous people, having endured bodily violations, have raised their voices high enough so that the Canadian political sphere has heard and acknowledged their pain and suffering.

Now, the same people are taking the fight to the legal sphere and saying clearly, this is my body, my choice and if you try to take that away from me, there will be hell to pay.