The federal government has convened an emergency meeting on racism against Indigenous peoples in the health-care system. It’s a start. But it has to do the serious internal work to fully understand unconscious bias.

When we discuss the challenges facing Indigenous peoples, we also need to reflect on the resilience of Indigenous peoples because we have some serious work to do to ensure we don’t lose another Indigenous life to racism.

Indigenous rage will not fade away. With more allies than ever before, politicians can't assume it won't make the evening news anymore.

We shouldn’t have to negotiate or fight for the basics that other Canadians receive. But if we don’t do it, who will?

Would a Sāmi model work better in Canada? If the model had constitutional authority, then yes. Ottawa eats up advisory bodies like beavertails and all that’s left is the crumbs of good intent messing up the floor.

Indigenous inclusion with enough numbers to be heard is fundamental to any democratic structure, especially for one that claims to represent Indigenous peoples in Canada. This also applies to the civil service.

Authentic action will include the public recognition that Canada is built on legislated racism, and the significant work to do better. We can’t have one without the other.

Calls for investigations into the existence of racism are akin to asking Indigenous people to prove they have suffered.

Anti-racism is a commitment to the value of equity and human rights. One must value the human rights of others, including others who are different, to be inclusive.

If this makes you uncomfortable, good. Discomfort is required in this discussion. Discomfort won’t kill you. But the fear and alarm that Indigenous peoples have when we have to interact with police, it might kill us.

Dump the private companies in long-term care, it just leaves a bad taste. The model was attempted, and it failed. Move on. Regulate long-term care funding through non-profit organizations with health expertise.

We need a reputable organization that collects data on racism, which has the legal mandate to force change in police forces.

With racial demographics on the impact of COVID-19, we will have the policy ability to do something about it. Without the data, we will not have the policy ability.

So many are realizing that mental health is actually a daily practice, and practice is work. First Nations sometimes call it something else; we sometimes call it balance.

COVID-19 is the defining challenge of our generation, and we’re only beginning to feel the effects. But if it’s the right thing to do now, why not continue the collaboration after we get through this crisis?

Métis, Inuit, and First Nations youth need to see role models who live their lives with culture and intention. But so do all Canadians.

This is also about government overreach in Indigenous governments, the oil and gas industry’s hardening grip on a dying energy source, and the alarming tendency of the RCMP to use excessive force.

This is the most urgent problem facing health-care organizations and leaders: how to ensure and demand that frontline providers deliver the care and empathy that Indigenous patients deserve.

Reconciliation demands that we deconstruct the status quo.

Everybody has a story, and Indigenous families need to have their stories heard. With understanding, maybe we can even build some respect.

What would be fundamental change? Implement UNDRIP in full partnership with Inuit, Métis, and First Nations.

After attending a memorial for two First Nations youth who died in Thunder Bay and who were written about in Tanya Talaga's book, Seven Fallen Feathers, I’m left wondering if Canada cares about First Nations kids.

Cultural competence is the skill and ability to respect others’ cultures, and limit the projection of one’s own culture on others. Reconciliation requires that potential ministers truly understand the depth and importance of cultural competence in order to build effective relationships with Indigenous peoples.

Canada, it’s time to implement the TRC and UNDRIP, in intent and in policy, action and law. Drop all the resistance to building relationships with Indigenous peoples.