Menstrual Products in On-Reserve First Nations Schools is a Drop in the Bucket in the Fight for Menstrual Equity and Decolonization in Ontario
By Hayley Newman-Petryshen
This post is part of a series of opinion pieces in diverse mediums focusing on the theme “What makes you mad about global health?” These submissions are by McGill students who were part of the course PPHS 511 Fundamentals of Global Health in Fall 2021.
On October 8th, 2021, the Government of Ontario responded to calls by menstrual equity advocates and announced a new program that would see the provision of menstrual products in publicly funded schools across Ontario. I have long been an activist in this space and, to sum it up simply, menstrual equity encompasses the idea that everyone deserves equal access to the menstrual care products they need and also addresses the shame and stigma associated with menstruation.
While the announcement is exciting and marks a major step forward, the policy can be criticized on numerous fronts. To begin, it involves a partnership with a major corporation–ShoppersDrug Mart. This partnership absolves the provincial government of financial responsibility to the project. Further, the program is only set to last three years and there is currently no plan in place for what will happen with access to menstrual care products after this time period. Products will also be given to school boards and these boards will be given discretion over how these products are distributed among and within schools, meaning that equitable access could differ significantly by district. Most upsetting, however, is the notable exclusion of schools on First Nations reserves.
Because schools on reserves are funded by the federal government, the provincial government did not include these schools in their plan to provide menstrual products to Ontario students. This is despite the fact that 1) the provincial government is not actually the one funding or providing the products (it's Shoppers Drug Mart) and 2) denying children access to a government service due to federal-provincial discrepancies is a direct violation of Jordan’s principle–something that Kiiwetinoong MPP Sol Mamakwa pointed out at Queen’s Park in a powerful speech shortly following the province’s announcement.
Less than a month after the province’s announcement, Indigenous Services Minister Patty Hajdu announced that the federal government would soon provide menstrual care products in all on-reserve schools, though the details have yet to be shared.
While this announcement was met with some celebration by students and activists, it is important not to lose sight of the fact that this shift is likely the direct result of what Ben Phillips, author of How to Fight Inequality, would call“pressure from below.” If the government was authentically committed to improving life for indigenous people in Canada, it would not take extensive public pressure to simply get basic menstrual products–a near hygienic equivalent to the acknowledged necessity of toilet paper–in schools. Incredible Indigenous organizations like Moon Time Sisters have been pivotal in this fight, shedding light on the fact that menstruation in remote northern communities is an often-ignored global health issue that has deep implications for indigenous menstruators.
The brutal reality of the relationship between Indigenous people and the Canadian government, in terms of both its historical and current manifestations, testifies to the fact that the federal government has no genuine interest in improving the quality of life–and simply meeting the basic needs–of Indigenous people in so-called Canada. The fact that menstrual products are a basic need primarily for women and girls, trans men and boys, and non-binary folks further illuminates the intersectionalities of discrimination faced by menstruators across Canada, but particularly by indigenous individuals and communities.
While providing access to menstrual products in schools on reserves is a step forward, menstruators on reserves who are not in school will still continue to face exorbitantly expensive menstrual care products whilst also facing disproportionate levels of poverty. Furthermore, given the highly restricted nature of the Ontario government’s plan to provide menstrual products, it does little to support the majority of Indigenous people who do not live on reserves. When menstrual products are not in all public washrooms, it is marginalized people and those experiencing poverty who are most affected.
While the world continues to push menstrual health to the fringes of global health, menstruators on Ontario reserves, across Canada, and around the world are missing school, missing meals, and being denied a sense of comfort and dignity. In schools on First Nations reserves in Ontario, this rejection of menstrual equity is a marked perpetuation of not only menstrual inequity, but of ongoing colonial harm.
References:
Government of Ontario. (2021, October 8). Ontario launches free menstrual products in schools[Press release]. https://news.ontario.ca/en/release/1000941/ontario-launches-free-menstrual-products-in-schools
Ljungberg, C. and Coates, S. (2020, September 3). Investing in menstrual health is an investment inglobal health. Stanford Social Innovation Review.https://ssir.org/articles/entry/investing_in_menstrual_health_is_an_investment_in_global_health
McGillivray, K. MPP calls out province’s free menstrual products plan for not including First Nationsschools. CBC News. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/mpp-calls-out-province-s-free-menstrual-products-plan-for-not-including-first-nations-schools-1.6219813
Monkman, L. (2021, November 5). On-reserve schools to get free menstrual products, saysIndigenous Services Minister. CBC News. https://www.cbc.ca/news/indigenous/menstrual-products-on-reserve-schools-1.6239369
Press, J. (2017, October 10). Over 80% of reserves have median income below poverty line, censusdata shows. Global News. https://globalnews.ca/news/3795083/reserves-poverty-line-census/
Sebert Kuhlmann, A., Peters Bergquist, E., Danjoint, D., & Wall, L. L. (2019). Unmet menstrualhygiene needs among low-income women. Obstetrics & Gynecology, 133(2), 238–244.https://doi.org/10.1097/AOG.0000000000003060
Statistics Canada. (2016). Aboriginal peoples: Fact sheet for Ontario.https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/89-656-x/89-656-x2016007-eng.htm
Viera, J. (2019, September 9). The heartbreaking realities of period poverty. Toronto Star.https://www.thestar.com/life/health_wellness/2019/09/09/the-heartbreaking-realities-of-period-poverty.html
Acknowledgments:
We would like to thank Professor Madhukar Pai for setting and sharing this assignment results with us and the teaching assistants Alexandra Jaye Zimmer, Lavanya Huria and Angie Sassi for their support in coordinating the results.