The Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions (CFNU) is Canada’s largest nurses’ organization, representing frontline unionized nurses and nursing students in every sector of health care – from home care and long-term care to community and acute care – and advocating on key priorities to strengthen public health care across the country. As one of the country’s influential spokespersons of health care, it is CFNU’s duty and responsibility to uphold reconciliation and safety for Indigenous peoples in our care.
The CFNU has been working towards building a trusted advocacy role for Indigenous Peoples since Jordan River Anderson from Norway House Cree Nation in Manitoba was hospitalized from birth with a rare medical condition. He lived for over two years in a hospital because governments did not do the right thing and simply argued about who should pay for his care. It is not acceptable that Indigenous people continue to face racism when looking for health care today. The way forward for us is to first apologize for our historical lack of action, apologize for the current risks of racism faced by Indigenous people, and to continue our efforts to lay a strong foundation for future generations. Indigenous people deserve excellent care by nurses, and we commit to doing better.
The CFNU will share our apology on June 3 in Niagara at our Biennial Convention. We intend to do so in the best way we can, with humility and a willingness to learn more. We also know that an apology is meaningless without action. On June 5, we will table a motion to start work immediately on a reconciliation plan to set out tasks and goals to meaningfully contribute to reconciliation, while being accountable to Indigenous Peoples and to members.
An Indigenous Nurse Advisory Committee has been struck to provide direction and advice on how to do this in a good way, particularly for Indigenous nurses who may also face racism at work. The safety of Indigenous nurses and Indigenous people is an important piece of an apology and our work on reconciliation. I offer my thanks to the Indigenous Nurse Advisory Committee members, who chose to teach us and advise us on how to be a better partner – we can’t do this without you.
The CFNU is committed to doing its part for reconciliation and for Indigenous safety and well-being in the health care sector. I ask you to join us on this journey. The CFNU will host a Facebook Live event on May 21, 2025, at 12pm EDT as a learning event on history, a necessary knowledge for reconciliation, and on how to be good partners with Indigenous Peoples.
All delegates of the convention are invited to join us in person on June 3 in Niagara Falls for the apology. We invite everyone to watch CFNU’s June 3 livestream on Facebook.
In solidarity,
Linda Silas, CFNU President
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