It’s often said that many residents of remote Manitoba reserves live in Third World conditions, lacking basic services like indoor plumbing and clean drinking water.
Now, researchers from the University of Manitoba are testing that theory, comparing the tiny, impoverished Caribbean island of Dominica with two northern Manitoba First Nations.
Brenda Elias, a professor of community health, suspects Dominica is taking the issue of running water more seriously than Canada, even though Canada is the far wealthier, more technologically advanced nation.
“We’re not a country with scarce resources, but this is still a struggle,” she said. “We don’t seem to have the wherewithal and the perseverance and the tenacity to supply water to the first peoples of this country.”
The writer of this article realized she made an error of judgement after expressing my concern to her via email of her description of our country as impoverished.
Hey, all! Don’t get too hot under the collar! The research is not really comparing Dominica; it is comparing The Carib Territory with the First Nations of Canada. Consequently, the study must be viewed as an anthropological one!
put your comments where it says click here to read full story so that the outsde world will know dominica is not as poor as they claim it to be
please put your comments on the real page where it says click on the real story
Dominicans dont feel no way they consider the entire caribbean to be third world countries.not to long ago a American journalist came to the U.S Virgin Islands and reported that the virgin islands is a relatively poor U.S territory.
we cant all just read this and see things with a narrow view. consider the source and what we’re measured against. everything these days are semantics. but a dose of reality is good. look at things in more than just your dimension.
If I was leaving in dominica, I would have been upset about that word tiny impoverish island. But traveling abroad & living it different.In economical way,yes we are, compare to the some other island, big country do have poverty,the caribbean will be seen quickly. Don’t feel no way, just keep in unity. We will be development. god bless this prime minister he is doing alot for the country. Big up soon.
Why all the cry about what this professor said, we cry and break our beloved country everyday. Just listen to a beleaguered opposition and a deliberately misguided radio station. Maybe we start to appreciate our blessings, other people will talk differently!
This professor is way out of line….referring to our country as “tiny and impoverished”…. rude and out of place!
Why did they choose the Kalinago people especially! I think that article is made up!
@ Jazz
I had to laugh at your comments.
You are so correct. When I read the article I thought the same thing. If I knew this man I would surely give him a good piece of my mind, calling Dominica “tiny and impoverished.” He seems to forget that there are poor people in Canada who are poorer than the poorest person in Dominica and not only in the First Nations, the Canadian Indian community.
The article may not be made up but the researcher is downright ignorant and inconsiderate. His research is flawed. It is a shame for one who professes to be educated and knowledgeable.
For those of you who wish to address the “impoverished Caribbean island of Dominica” statement here is the email contact: [email protected]
You may also want to reach out to institutions such as the US, IMF and World Bank so that they can look into changing these phrases as it relates to our LOVELY and WELL OFF nation.
Correction: not US but UN (United Nations)
IMPOVERISHED? MY DOMINICA?
I DEEPLY RESENT THIS.
I AM DOMINICA AND MY COUNTRY IS WELL ON ITS WAY TO BECOMING A DEVELOPED COUNTRY.
Lord, I just hope the world does not think that this is the way the majority of persons live. Jeweez…..what a way to belittle us.
I don’t care what this researchers say, many persons in the US and Canada are far worse off than we are. In fact there are places in New Orleans that do not even have electricity.
And don’t talk about New Yorkers who have to turn on their ovens to get warmth during winter….hmmmph
I am Dominica and I have never used a slop pail.
This should be a wake-up call for the authorities to recognize that the Kalingo(Caribs) should be treated as first class and not second class citizens. After all this is their homeland. They were the original inhabitants. They of all groups should be singled out for special privileges but it is as if we are offering them the crumbs that fall from the table of others. Shame on us. To be called “The Nature Island of the Caribbean” does not mean that our indigenous people should continue to live under primitive conditions. They deserve better.
The indigenous people of Australia and Canada and America still live in poor, squalid conditions. Our caribs in Dominica are rising – with decent education, decent living, decent jobs, and so on.
Don’t forget the indigenous people of Argentina, living in the Barrios. I’ve seen the conditions under which they live and could not believe my eyes.
Why do they refer to Dominica as “impoverished, tiny island of the caribbean?” I vehemently resent that phrase, and we should all do. If Canada and are America are that wealthy, then why are there so many impoverished people living in Canada and America, below the poverty line? We are a proud people of Dominica, and we work tirelessly hard and pride ourselves on what we have and what we work for through the sweat of our brow. Alot of Americans and Canadians live on Government dole and live in the ghettos and projects, in filthy neighbourhoods.
Of course, we are tiny (289 square miles) and improverished (28.8 % povery rate and heavily dependent on foreign aid which finances 70-75 % of the Government ‘s capital budget). We have to put aside false pride and face the reality if we are to move on.
we are also tiny because our population size of 70,000 can easily fit into a large football stadium in the United States. By global standard, a population of 70,000 is the size of a medium-sized town. There are companies in the world whose labour force is plently times more the population of Dominica.
Excellent point! Granted, Dominicans won’t starve to death because we have an abundance of natural resources. Still the fact remains that we have massive unemployment! We produce very little! we are not even able to feed our population of 70,000. Maybe it’s time to start an honest dialouge about the state of affairs of the country (sans all that emotions)!
@ DE CARIBBEAN CHANGE
Those people do it all the time, calling the islands tiny and impoverished as if there are no poor people in their country who live under impoverished conditions. We have to set them straight.
Did this educated “marshland brain” person refer to my country as impoverished? i hope i did misunderstand… stuppsssssssssssss.
let me get my hands on U……..U _______
but honestly where is this information coming from. I mean this is not the message or type of image i would like too see sent out about Dominica
Oh what a shame them professor did not even mention Haiti, them say Dominica, this is so sad in this day and age for them Canadian professor.researcher to belittle our beloved island
i second dat mashup, OMG,,, am speechless,DOminica? stupes
well if that is the conditions the kalinago people live under,it sounds kinda gross,but then again this is how a lot of us were brought up,with toilet pits and carting water,only thing some of us has changed with time,then again the comparison with the manitoba people,can not give account to our people,the reserve setting in manitoba is far different from dominica,and also i see that as a choice for the kalinago people,to remain in their cultural habitat or accept developmental changes,but also is there not houses being built in the kalinago territory?are they not being built by modern standards,just making an observation,because this report did not mention this.
…but wait nah, they talking about whole of dominica when they mean poor and not kalinagos only.some of allu need to stop that cuz it have persons in carib reserve with indoor pluming jus as it have pit toilets round dominica in lil villages nt reserve alone.it seems that once it comes top saying dominica poor u all black men first glimpse is on the kalingo people.stop it,they’re not poor.some have good jobs an education jus as some black folks do.
to
brother the research was based on indian reservations in dominica and manitoba canada,read properly,before you rebuke,you defending that’s okay,but defend with the right notion.
I read the article and i just LOL….SMH
That citation about Impoverished Dominica Is Just Nonsense how we impoverished for a researcher of this Caliber its captioned badly and sends a wrong message on my Beloved home land
Would you prefer wealthy or thriving. Unless we face the truth and the realities we cannot move forward. We are impoverished inspite of what politicians want you to believe.
@ Jolly
Is Dominica really an impoverished nation? Is there any Dominican who is starving and residing and sleeping on the streets? Or how many are there?
I do recognize that there are certain and different degrees of being impoverished. What do you think Dominicans are in need of that Dominica is classified by those people as a nation which is impoverished?
Dominicans are far better than many people in the progressive countries. I would take Dominica any day. I would never refer to Dominica as being impoverished.
Dominica has progressed in comparison to bygone days.
Those people who visit Dominica, some of them spending only a few weeks or merely see a map of Dominica and its population must be blind and living in darkness to make such a statement about Dominica. Furthermore, they are downright ignorant, insulting and wicked. Check out the meaning of impoverish.