Dr. Rod McCormick, BC Innovation Chair in Aboriginal Health and nationally-recognized expert in First Nations mental health, spoke to the Prince Albert Now about the recent suicides of four young girls in Northern Saskatchewan. McCormick said suicide is the direct result of an absence of meaning in an individual’s life. The lack of meaning among remote First Nations communities can often be traced back to colonialism, which was when Indigenous spirituality, connections to nature and traditional culture, were stripped away by Western institutions.

Read: Empowering community, individual key to combating suicide: experts, Prince Albert Now, Oct. 19, 2016