In a recent article in The Winnipeg Sun, Health Canada was reported to have sent extra body bags in their shipment of supplies to communities in northern Manitoba. The communities (which included Wasagamack, St. Theresa Point and Garden Hill First Nations) were expecting supplies for the H1N1 flu outbreak.
Now, what should these communities think when they open up the shipment and there's more body bags than normal? It's a pretty clear message, don't you think? Does Health Canada know something that the First Nation communities don't?
What are your thoughts on the matter?
Read the article here: http://www.winnipegsun.com/news/manitoba/2009/09/17/10948146-sun.html
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Okay, I'm going to play devil's advocate here for a minute... if you're trying to cover all the bases with your pandemic plan, it makes sense to send extra body bags. Where I think the issue is, is the fact that Health Canada didn't communicate with First Nations communities before sending them. If they had told them they would be sending these things, and had discussed the need for them, receiving them probably wouldn't have been such a big issue. However, you couple this incident with other things, and it's perfectly logical for First Nations communities to feel like the government is completely out of touch. Because they are. The way it went down, it completely sends the wrong message. And with all the conflicting information floating around about H1N1, it's a pretty scary message. Health Canada is probably going to be doing damage control for a while with this one.
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