Inclusion sought in period products program

First Nations schools should get free menstrual items, too, NDP MPP says

It’s unfair to exclude students at First Nations schools from the province’s free period products program, especially given that those essential items can cost twice as much in northern Ontario as they do in the south, says New Democratic MPP Sol Mamakwa.

Mamakwa told the Ontario Legislature Wednesday that the price gap “is even wider when you go to fly-in First Nations … A regular box of tampons can range from $16 to $45, leaving people to choose between menstrual products or food security.”

Young people attending First Nations schools “have high needs for these products but they are being excluded,” said Mamakwa, who represents the riding of Kiiwetinoong.

“The press release announcing this program says, ‘This supply of free menstrual products will be provided to all school boards,’ but that’s not the case. It is unfortunate that the public-private sector agreement did not see the need to address the issue for all students in Ontario, but only for those who attend provincial schools.”

Mamakwa said the Northern Nishnawbe Education Council, which oversees three high schools, “was disappointed to see jurisdictional issues once again creating division between provincial and First Nations schools and students” and is asking for them to be included.

The Nishnawbe schools are run by a non-profit organization headed by a council of district chiefs.

It is funded by the federal government but inspected by the province’s Ministry of Education.

Two weeks ago, Education Minister Stephen Lecce unveiled a new partnership with Shoppers Drug Mart that will see six million pads distributed to Ontario schools each year over three years.

“We are proud to have unveiled a plan to help end period poverty in this province for all publicly funded schools in the province of Ontario,” Lecce said in response to Mamakwa’s question.

Lecce said Shoppers will also provide “1,200 dispensaries to publicly funded schools in the province to support all students, including Indigenous students within those schools, and other young children in the province of Ontario.”

But Mamakwa said later on Twitter that he did not get an answer to his question and that “jurisdictional issues should not be dividing provincial and First Nations schools and students.”

Jane McKenna, the province’s associate minister of children and women’s issues, said a survey by Plan International Canada showed that “63 per cent of women and girls have regularly and occasionally missed an activity because of their period and concerns of not having access to menstrual hygiene products, and one in seven young people aged 13 to 21 struggled to afford period products.”

Some school boards, including the Toronto District School Board, implemented similar programs back in 2019 amid a growing awareness around period poverty. A few other provinces also have such initiatives.

Cathy Abraham, president of the Ontario Public School Boards’ Association, has said boards would like to see more types of menstrual products offered, such as tampons.