By signing this petition, you are saying you support this cause, and demand for the Government to fix this problem.

Poverty amongst Indigenous people in Canada is an extremely different situation than compared to poverty amongst non-Indigenous Canadians. Besides the normal causes of poverty, like capitalism, that affects everyone, Indigenous people face a different set of challenges. They are the victims of discrimination due to the severe ignorance of the majority of Canada’s population, where their life opportunities are restricted due to racist government institutions, as well as the general public. Alongside the struggle with current racism, they are also dealing with the intergenerational trauma created from residential schools, that causes high rates of mental health issues, abuse, crime, as well as suicide. They are forced to live in severely underfunded communities, as moving off a reserve is practically impossible as self-dependence was stripped from them during the Indian Act. On these reserves, the lack of resources towards basic human needs that the government is responsible for distributing violates their rights, and takes away their chance of living a fulfilled life. These conditions that they are forced to live in, where they aren’t given any proper opportunity for employment or a future, forces them to live in a state of poverty. Their conditions cause their everyday lives to be in a constant state of crisis, where they live in cycle of abuse that is simultaneously an endless poverty loop, as they don’t have any access to resources to help them escape it.