Mississaugas of the New Credit First Nation sign Relationship Protocol with Cancer Care Ontario

TORONTO, ON (Feb. 1, 2018) – Today representatives from the Mississaugas of the New Credit First Nation signed a Relationship Protocol with Cancer Care Ontario to formalize their partnership and outline the principles of how the parties will work together to address common cancer control priorities. The agreement was signed in the Traditional Territory of the Mississaugas of the New Credit First Nation.

One of the key priorities in Cancer Care Ontario’s third Aboriginal Cancer Strategy (ACS III) is to build productive relationships based on trust and respect. This Relationship Protocol will foster and support the relationship between the Mississaugas of the New Credit First Nation and Cancer Care Ontario as they work to improve the health and well-being of community members in Ontario.

"We are pleased to sign this agreement with Cancer Care Ontario,” says Chief Stacey LaForme, Mississaugas of the New Credit First Nation. “Indigenous people are experiencing a large increase in a number of different types of cancer. Our Nation has experienced firsthand the devastation that is cancer. Agreements such as this build trust and allow us to have a dialogue on the best path forward."

“Formalizing our partnership with the Mississaugas of the New Credit First Nation marks an important milestone as we work towards our common goals of reducing the burden of cancer,” says Michael Sherar, President and CEO, CCO. “We look forward to building on this important work together in a way that honours the Aboriginal Path of Well-Being.”

The facts:

• First Nations, Inuit and Métis have higher mortality rates from preventable cancers, show higher rates of some modifiable risk factors and tend to present with later-stage cancers at the time of diagnosis.
• More research is needed to understand cancer amongst First Nations in Ontario and this partnership will help enhance this knowledge.
• ACS III is a comprehensive plan that guides how Cancer Care Ontario works with partners to improve the performance of the cancer system for First Nations, Inuit and Métis people from 2015-2019. ACS III focuses on six strategic priorities to improve health equity: build productive relationships; research and surveillance; prevention; screening; supportive care; and education.

ACS III is a direct deliverable of the Ontario Cancer Plan IV and reflects the shared priorities of Cancer Care Ontario, the Regional Cancer Programs and Aboriginal communities.

To contact an Aboriginal Patient Navigator who can help First Nations and other Aboriginal cancer patients and their families, please visit Cancer Care Ontario’s website.

About Cancer Care Ontario:

Cancer Care Ontario equips health professionals, organizations and policy-makers with the most up-to-date cancer knowledge and tools to prevent cancer and deliver high-quality patient care.

It does this by collecting and analyzing data about cancer services and combining it with evidence and research that is shared with the healthcare community in the form of guidelines and standards. It also monitors and measures the performance of the cancer system, and oversees a funding and governance model that ties funding to performance, making healthcare providers more accountable and ensuring value for investments in the system.

Cancer Care Ontario actively engages people with cancer and their families in the design, delivery and evaluation of Ontario’s cancer system, and works to improve the performance of Ontario’s cancer system by driving quality, accountability, innovation and value.

About the Mississaugas of the New Credit First Nation:

The Mississaugas of the New Credit First Nation (MNCFN) is an Anishinaabe community located near the town of Hagersville, Ontario, and occupies 6000 acres of land in Haldimand and Brant Counties. The membership of the First Nation consists of approximately 2483 individuals with about one fifth of members living off-reserve. The traditional territory of the MNCFN consists of 3.9 million acres of land in Southern Ontario and is among the most densely populated and heavily industrialized lands in Canada. Treaties reached with the British Crown and MNCFN ancestors between 1781 and 1820 saw MNCFN territory opened to settlers and the eventual establishment of cities such as Toronto, Mississauga, Hamilton, St. Catharines, and Kitchener-Waterloo, amongst others.

For more information, please contact:

Cancer Care Ontario
Phone: 1.855.460.2646
Email: media@cancercare.on.ca

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