Canadian Aboriginals Receive Body Bags For Flu (After Requesting Assistance for Outbreak)

[Kadie]

Sep 17, 2009 12:44 pm US/Pacific
Canadian Aboriginals Receive Body Bags For Flu

WINNIPEG, Manitoba (AP) ― Health officials ordered an investigation Thursday into why the Canadian government sent body bags to an Aboriginal reserve in Manitoba after community leaders requested assistance to deal with an expected outbreak of swine flu.

The body bags were sent this week to a remote northern reserve that was hard hit by swine flu last spring. The bags were in a shipment of hand sanitizers and face masks.

Canadian Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq said she found the action by Health Canada insensitive and offensive.

"As minister of health and as an Aboriginal, I am offended," Aglukkaq said in a statement Thursday. "To all who took offense at what occurred, I want to say that I share your concern and I pledge to get to the bottom of it."

Some critics are demanding the health minister formally apologize for the shipment and have suggested the bags appear to be part of the federal government's plan to deal with a second wave of the flu.

"I was very disturbed and actually frightened that they're actually shipping that number of body bags to the communities," said Manitoba Grand Chief Ron Evans. "I thought they were preparing for what the experts were predicting. That's the message the communities are receiving."


more...
http://cbs13.com/health/canada.swine.flu.2.1190814.html

[Nuclear Unicorn]

1. What next?

Handguns for headaches?

:banghead:

[Taverner]

2. Seems like a pretty much straight up "F.U."

[Ruby the Liberal]

3. The thought of unpacking that and finding body bags instead of vaccines (or whatever else should

have been in there) is horrifying.

[TxRider]

4. Don't let the rethugs see this...

Fox will be spinning it as the "Canadian death panel of socialized medicine" for weeks....

[Blue_Tires]

5. sound like something Palin would have done...

[Spazito]

6. Canada's treatment of First Nations continues to be abhorent....

Racism exists in Canada as well, the victims are First Nations. An immediate apology was due for this FU yet the Minister of Health has yet to do so.

[kitty1]

7. Because of the alcohol content in hand sanitizers, the gov't delayed

shipping those out the the remote reserve communities as well. There was a fear that the natives would consume the liquid for the alcohol content. This is what we are dealing with folks.

[Spazito]

8. Yes, our (the Canadian government) is something else....

when it comes to their actions on First Nations issues. It is appalling.