Rod McCormick is the principal investigator for Kloshe Tillicum: Network Environment for Aboriginal Health Research and associate professor of counselling psychology.
What is your reaction to the news of these experiments?
I’m not surprised. But like everyone else, I’m disgusted. There had been stories like this in residential schools for years. Malnourishment was commonplace. The fact that the government thought it was okay to conduct experiments makes it that much more abhorrent.
How will this affect the relationship between the federal government and Aboriginal communities?
The relationship between Canada and Aboriginal people has not been a respectful one. It has always been a relationship of research being done on us. We’ve worked really hard, particularly in the last decade, to change the relationship. Instead of being the researched, we were becoming the researchers – ensuring it was relevant, respectful and responsible. With dramatic cuts to Aboriginal research, I think we’ve taken a step backward.
What would you like to see happen as a result of these revelations?
I think we need to acknowledge survivors are still alive. I see an opportunity to apologize that this has occurred and then to actually back that up by saying this research should not have happened. The federal government should put some dollars and commitment behind helping Aboriginal people do productive research around nutrition and nourishment, as problems with oral health, obesity and diabetes adversely affect indigenous communities.