Page - 52 - in VULNERABLE - The Law, Policy and Ethics of COVID-19

VULNERABLE52 these dimensions, we would have only scratched the surface, especially given that the legal and policy context that applies to each First Nations, Inuit, Métis, and non-status people has different implications (what the federal government calls a “distinctions-based approach”). Instead, we have dived more deeply into the affirmations of jurisdiction and cor- responding acts of First Nations governments (and their collaborations based on their exercise of jurisdiction). The achievement of Indigenous well-being and resilience must be understood within the context of self- determination, as outlined in the United  Nations  Declaration  on  the  Rights  of  Indigenous  Peoples  (UNDRIP), in conjunction with the ongoing failures by the federal government to address basic human rights issues, such as housing and clean water on reserves, both of which have a direct impact on the ability to ensure the health and safety of First Nations. Self-determination holds the key to better Aboriginal health by allowing communities to develop programs that are suited to their own needs, and to do so in a holistic way, avoiding the jurisdic- tional disputes that have plagued progress in health and so many other areas where the residential schools still cast a large shadow.4 We have chosen a handful of First Nations examples that reflect First Nations self-determination in the area of health, aimed at mitigating the spread of COVID-19 and maintaining the health and wellness of First Nations people and communities. We suggest that First Nations, as the most proximate government, are best positioned to make policy and law in response to COVID-19 and that they should be supported financially in that endeavour by the federal government—in the form of a sui  generis application of the constitutional principle of subsidiar- ity (where authority rests with the government that is closest to the context and the people). Our comments are shared in light of the con- tinued efforts of Indigenous people to maintain and restore good rela- tions and to live in wellness—key pillars of Treaties and Indigenous legal orders in Canada.5 4. Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, Canada’s  Residential  Schools:  The  Legacy  (The  Final  Report),  vol 5 (Winnipeg: Truth and Reconciliation Commission, 2015). 5. Aimée Craft, “Ki’inaakonigewin: Reclaiming Space for Indigenous Laws” (Paper delivered at the Canadian Administration of Justice Conference, Aboriginal  Peoples  and  Law:  “We  Are  All  Here  to  Stay”, Saskatoon, 14 October 2015).