Coerced sterilizations of Indigenous women in Saskatoon troubling: Bennett

Indigenous Affairs Minister Carolyn Bennett says she's troubled by reports of Indigenous women in and around Saskatoon being coerced into tubal ligation procedures.

A report issued last week found a number of Indigenous women from Saskatoon and the surrounding area were coerced into having their Fallopian tubes clamped or severed after giving birth at a hospital.

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Bennett says the report's findings are a reminder that racism continues to exist within all institutions.

The minister, a physician herself, says the issue demands urgent attention, saying it can be very difficult for patients to deal with health care providers who discriminate.

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Indigenous women coerced into tubal ligation felt 'invisible, profiled and powerless' according to an external report.

The researchers behind last week's report say the experience of Indigenous women in Saskatchewan is likely not exclusive to the province.

They say a broader review would help determine the extent to which the problem exists elsewhere in Canada.