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The Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) has expressed deep concern over a string of suicide attempts at the Attawapiskat First Nation.

Krista Maracle, Chair of the Union’s Aboriginal Circle, said the union strongly supports Ontario Regional Chief Isadore Day’s call for a national strategy to fight the suicide epidemic.

Maracle said a 2016 inquiry into the crisis concluded residential schools, the loss of language and culture, and substance abuse were factors leading to suicide – findings that mirror those of the Truth and Reconciliation Report.

Maracle said Indigenous communities already know what an effective national strategy would look like. They just need partners to help make it a reality.”