RNAO stands with the Indigenous peoples of this land who are mourning lives lost. We recognize and share the enormous and enduring pain caused by the residential school system. In our ongoing commitment to reconciliation, the association is building on its partnerships with Indigenous communities to address the impacts of colonialism and cultural genocide on their health and wellbeing. 

Recent efforts to expand on these partnerships mark an important step towards fulfilling the call of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission to “restore what must be restored, repair what must be repaired, and return what must be returned.” In committing to this ongoing work, RNAO strives to create a more equitable and inclusive society by closing the gaps in social, health and economic outcomes.

In 2016 and again in 2019, RNAO formalized a commitment to the Chiefs of Ontario (COO) to call on all levels of government to address the health and wellbeing of Ontario’s First Nations. RNAO and COO agreed to work together to address mental wellness, addiction and suicide prevention, and to improve health services across public health, primary care and home and community care. 

While COVID-19 interfered with progress in advancing the terms of this partnership, it led to the critical and urgent task of developing and implementing a COVID-19 action plan for First Nations. RNAO CEO Doris Grinspun and then Ontario Regional Chief RoseAnne Archibald (elected National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations on July 8, 2021) have worked closely together on leading this effort. 

The resulting action plan outlined five critical processes necessary to protect First Nation communities during the pandemic: 
1.    Pre-outbreak testing and surveillance
2.    Physical distancing for community, self-isolation and cohorting of cases
3.    Robust case and contact tracing
4.    Universal masking and personal protective equipment
5.    Health-human resource surge capacity

In addition to this work with COO, RNAO formalized its relationship, which also began in 2019, with the Nishnawbe Aski Nation (NAN) through the signing of a “relationship accord” at the NAN Chiefs Assembly on Health Transformation and Governance in March 2021. The relationship accord calls on RNAO to support NAN’s assertion of its jurisdiction and control over health care through the development of a health transformation process and its own health commission. RNAO President Morgan Hoffarth represented the association at a signing ceremony.