Media Indigena : Weekly Indigenous Current Affairs Program

Can a reserve’s chronically unsafe drinking water be associated with a greater risk of suicide for its residents? That’s the lethal link hypothesized in newly-released research entitled “Is Suicide a Water Justice Issue? Investigating Long-Term Drinking Water Advisories and Suicide in First Nations in Canada.” Co-authored by scholars Jeffrey Ansloos and Annelies Cooper, their investigative framework connects the colonial dots between relentless indignities inflicted upon Indigenous communities with the criminally disproportionate rates of premature Indigenous death.  An Associate Professor and the Canada Research Chair in Critical Studies in Indigenous Health and Social Action on Suicide at the University of Toronto, Dr. Ansloos joins host/producer Rick Harp and MI regular Candis Callison (Associate Professor in the Institute for Critical Indigenous Studies and the Graduate School of Journalism at UBC) to discuss the wider implications of this study.  NOTE: The Hope for Wellness Helpline is available 24/7 at