“I don’t remember much of that day when I got my test back, but what I do remember is being in a tiny white room with a complete stranger, 18 years old and frightened,” recounted Kecia Larkin.
On September 11th, 1989, Larkin, a Canadian woman from the Kwa’kwa’wakw and Peigan First Nations in British Columbia, was diagnosed with HIV. She acquired the virus through unprotected sex and sharing intravenous needles with her boyfriend of 8 months who discovered his HIV+ status too late. Now in her 40s, Larkin is a leading advocate for HIV awareness in Canadian aboriginal communities. She believes the Canadian federal government has been complicit in the deaths of indigenous people living with HIV and that major changes are needed to take place to fix a system that has been broken since the AIDS epidemic began.
Larkin is not alone in her dismay towards the Canadian government and its treatment of indigenous people. In October 2015, indigenous communities across Canada flocked to the polls to participate in national elections for a new Parliament and Prime Minister. Voter turnout on Canadian indigenous reserves broke election records. Some communities in the riding (electoral district) of Kinora, which includes more than 40 First Nations, claimed a 270 percent increase in voter turnout. The reason given by countless indigenous people who turned out to vote was quite simple: they were fed up with Stephen Harper, the recently ousted Canadian Prime Minister, and his conservative government’s continued neglect of indigenous issues. Of the many grievances indigenous leaders harbored against the Harper administration, one of the most pressing was its failure to provide basic health services to indigenous communities and acknowledge the growing HIV/AIDS epidemic. Now with the election of Justin Trudeau as Prime Minister and his Liberal Party to Parliament, indigenous leaders are optimistic that their often ignored pleas for redress will be answered and that the issue of HIV in their communities will be tackled.
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In the realm of HIV/AIDS policy, Harper drew international criticism when he refused to implement the UNAIDS 90Â90Â90 target that seeks to ensure that by the year 2020 that 90% of people living with HIV will know their status, 90% of those diagnosed will receive antiretroviral therapy (ART), and 90% of those on ART will have viral suppression. Julio Montaner, Director of the British Columbia Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS and former President of the International AIDS Society, lamented the decision and declared that Canada has the capacity and resources to implement the 90Â90Â90 target. Larkin articulated her grievances more bluntly: “Harper killed a lot of people in British Columbia.”
In his election campaigns, Harper said he would slash welfare costs in half, and the results were devastating. Hordes of people lost their muchÂneeded government benefits and disability status because of funding slashes, and Larkin personally witnessed the fatal consequences when one of her friends found no alternative to the loss but suicide. She also emphasized that the experiences on the ground in these communities are different from the national picture. Although the Canadian government is spending millions on HIV/AIDS, the vast majority is going to research organizations such as the one led by Montaner, leaving little to tangibly assist communities in need.