Kristin Burnett

Personal identification (PID) is an important, if often overlooked, barrier to accessing the social determinants of health for many marginalized people in society. A scoping review was undertaken to explore the range of research addressing the role of PID in the social determinants of health in North America, barriers to acquiring and maintaining PID, and to identify gaps in the existing research. A systematic search of academic and gray literature was performed, and a thematic analysis of the included studies (n = 31) was conducted. The themes identified were: (1) gaining and retaining identification, (2) access to health and social services, and (3) facilitating identification programs. The findings suggest a paucity of research on PID services and the role of PID in the social determinants of health. We contend that research is urgently required to build a more robust understanding of existing PID service models, particularly in rural contexts, as well as on barriers to accessing and maintaining PID, especially among the most marginalized groups in society.

Under international law, birth registration is considered a human right because it determines access to important legal protections as well as essential services and social supports across the lifespan. Difficulties related to birth registration and the acquisition of personal identification (PID) are largely regarded as problems specific to low-income countries. For Indigenous people in northern and rural Canada, however, lack of PID, like birth certificates, is a common problem that is rooted in the geography of the region as well as historical and contemporary settler colonial policies. This communication elucidates the complicated terrain of unregistered births for those people living in northern Ontario in order to generate discussion about how the social determinants of health for Indigenous people in Canada are affected by PID. Drawing on intake surveys, qualitative interviews and participant observation field notes, we use the case study of “Susan” as an entry point to share insights into the “intergenerational problem” of unregistered births in the region. Susan’s case speaks to how unregistered births and lack of PID disproportionately impacts the health and well-being of Indigenous people and communities in northern Ontario. The implications and the need for further research on this problem in Canada are discussed.

Introduction Cet article porte sur l'environnement de la vente d’aliments dans les collectivités des Premières nations du nord des provinces, en particulier sur la concurrence éventuelle dans la vente au détail de la North West Company (NWC) ainsi que sur les expériences d'achats alimentaires de la population vivant dans le Nord canadien. Méthodologie Nous avons utilisé deux méthodologies pour évaluer l’environnement alimentaire de la vente au détail dans le Nord. D’abord, nous avons cartographié les détaillants en alimentation du Nord afin d’examiner le degré de concurrence au détail dans les régions nordiques, en prêtant une attention particulière aux collectivités qui ne sont pas accessibles à l’année par la route. Ensuite, nous avons enquêté auprès des personnes vivant dans les collectivités du Nord canadien à propos de leurs expériences d’achat au détail et de magasinage. Résultats Cinquante-quatre pour cent des collectivités du nord des provinces et du Grand Nord n’avaient aucune épicerie en concurrence avec la NWC. Les provinces comptant les plus fortes proportions de collectivités nordiques sans concurrence dans la vente au détail étaient l’Ontario (87 %), la Saskatchewan (83 %) et le Manitoba (72 %). Les participants au sondage (n = 92) ont fait état de leurs préoccupations quant à leurs expériences d'achat dans trois grands secteurs : le coût des aliments, la qualité et la fraîcheur des aliments et la disponibilité de certains aliments. Conclusion La concurrence dans la vente au détail est limitée dans le nord des provinces. Au Manitoba, en Saskatchewan et en Ontario, la NWC ne fait face à aucune concurrence dans au moins 70 % des collectivités nordiques. Les consommateurs du Nord canadien considèrent que les aliments nutritifs sont peu abordables, et ils souhaitent avoir accès à un plus grand choix d’aliments périssables en bon état.

Introduction This paper looks at the market food environments of First Nations communities located in the provincial Norths by examining the potential retail competition faced by the North West Company (NWC) and by reporting on the grocery shopping experiences of people living in northern Canada. Methods We employed two methodological approaches to assess northern retail food environments. First, we mapped food retailers in the North to examine the breadth of retail competition in the provincial Norths, focussing specifically on those communities without year-round road access. Second, we surveyed people living in communities in northern Canada about their retail and shopping experiences. Results Fifty-four percent of communities in the provincial Norths and Far North without year-round road access did not have a grocery store that competed with the NWC. The provinces with the highest percentage of northern communities without retail competition were Ontario (87%), Saskatchewan (83%) and Manitoba (72%). Respondents to the survey (n = 92) expressed concern about their shopping experiences in three main areas: the cost of food, food quality and freshness, and availability of specific foods. Conclusion There is limited retail competition in the provincial Norths. In Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Ontario, the NWC has no store competition in at least 70% of northern communities. Consumers living in northern Canada find it difficult to afford nutritious foods and would like access to a wider selection of perishable foods in good condition.

Indigenous people often occupy different overlapping or co-existing food environments that include market-based foods, land and water based foods, and combinations of the two. Studying these food environments is complicated by the cultural and geographic diversity of Indigenous people and the effects of colonialism, land dispossession, relocation and forced settlement on static reserves, and increasing migration to urban areas. We conducted a scoping study of food insecurity and Indigenous peoples living in urban spaces in Canada, the United States, and Australia. The 16 studies reviewed showed that food insecurity among urban Indigenous populations is an issue in all three nations. Findings highlight both the variety of experiences of urban Indigenous peoples within and across the three nations, and the commonalities of these experiences.

This paper examines the impact that ideas about race, gender and disease had on the social ordering and settlement of southern Alberta by focusing on a smallpox outbreak, which originated in Calgary during the summer of 1892. The first person to contract the disease was believed to be a Chinese laundry worker. When town authorities discovered the man's illness he was immediately placed under quarantine and the laundry was burned down. Municipal authorities used racialised ideas about health and cleanliness to discursively create sites of meaning, delineating strict spatial boundaries between the Chinese and non-Chinese community. Discourses produced during this period reveal how the language of public health and contagion were used to create sites of belonging and meaning in southern Alberta at a time when western Canadian society was struggling to define its identity within both the Prairie West and Canada more broadly.