Page - 387 - in VULNERABLE - The Law, Policy and Ethics of COVID-19

387Systemic Discrimination in Government Services and Programs and Its Impact on… professionals, adequate health facilities, and emergency ambulatory services. While these issues can in part be attributed to the barriers created by the complex shared jurisdiction over First Nations’ health care, the lack of consideration for the specific health needs of First Nations in the allocation of resources is a leading cause of health ineq- uities.24 Moreover, experiences of racism and prejudice in health care delivery can have grave consequences during an ongoing pandemic, such as deprivation from exams and tests, and delayed diagnosis and treatment.25 Other long-standing inequities in access to essential goods and services increase the risk presented by SARS-CoV-2 to First Nations communities. Lack of consistent access to sufficient and affordable healthy foods will be compounded by potential disruptions in the food supply chain.26 Unreliable internet connections make distance education impossible in many First Nations communities, with adverse consequences for the dissemination of public health informa- tion, in severing of social relationships among families with members on and off reserve, and for the educational progress of First Nations learners.27 These structural inequities pose distinct challenges for First Nations communities in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Yet there are valuable lessons to be learned from past experiences in the design and funding of services and programs when confronting these new circumstances. Affairs, Chair: Honourable MaryAnn Mihychuk (Ottawa: House of Commons, December 2018) at 42-1; OAG 2015, supra note 10. 24. Colleen M Flood, William Lahey & Bryan Thomas, “Federalism and Health Care in Canada. A Troubled Romance?” in Peter Oliver, Patrick Macklem & Nathalie Des Rosiers, eds, The  Oxford  Handbook  of  the  Canadian  Constitution (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2017) at 459-63; OAG 2015, supra note 10 at 4.92-4.96. 25. Commission on relations between Indigenous Peoples and certain public ser- vices in Québec, Final  Report  of  the  Public  Inquiry  Commission  on  relations  between  Indigenous  Peoples  and  certain  public  services  in  Québec:  Listening,  reconciliation  and  progress, Chair: Honourable Jacques Viens (Québec, Commission on relations between Indigenous Peoples and certain public services in Québec, 2019) at 367. 26. Elisa Levi & Tabitha Robin, “COVID-19 Did Not Cause Food Insecurity in Indig- enous Communities But It Will Make It Worse”, Yellowhead Institute (29 April 2020), online: <yellowhead institute.org/2020/04/29/covid19-food-insecurity/>. 27. Cindy Blackstock & Isadore Day, “History will repeat itself if First Nations remain underfunded in the fight against COVID-19”,  Globe  and  Mail (8 April 2020), online: <www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/article-history-will-repeat-itself-if- first-nations-remain-underfunded-in-the/>.