Ottawa, Parliament, Wabano and Strawberry Tea with the British High Commissioner

June 12 - 15, 2007

Steve rode the TransCanada Trail in Ottawa and rode in the Byward Market.

The scheduled events in Ottawa on June 13 were very successful. Steve was accompanied by two RCMP mounted officers, Claudia in the van, and the Ottawa Police, along Wellington Street to Parliament. Our horse was not allowed to enter the Parliament grounds but stayed at the gate. Members of the Ottawa area FASD community met us at the gate. The Ottawa Police then escorted the parade through downtown Ottawa to raise our profile.

The National Capital Commission forbids horses on their property (including the Ottawa portion of the Trans Canada Trail) and will fine a rider $95. They seem to be trying to override federal legislation that considers horses to be livestock giving them right of way over the horseless carriage. However, the Ottawa Police consider horses to be safer than skateboards and gave permission to ride on any Ottawa street.

On June 14, I met with senior Public Health Agency of Canada staff responsible for the FASD portfolio. We discussed their old studies that they used to estimate the incidence of FASD for the 33 million people in Canada. All five studies were old (before the FASD criteria had been finally set) and all were of remote First Nations communities, as if white people don't drink. In each case the authors had cautioned against using the statistics outside those specific communities. They are simply not valid when applied to the general population.

We discussed my study publish at http://www.faslink.org/ February 2, 2007 and they will submit the papers to further peer review. The statistics used in the FASlink study are from Statistics Canada's Canadian Health Survey (including drinking behaviours) and matched with birth and population stats for the same period. Statistics Canada has a 95% confidence level in their drinking behaviour numbers for all of Canada. The paper also compiles the known medical and cascade conditions caused by prenatal exposure to alcohol and the Special Education criteria for Ontario and data from 28,000 students in the Lambton Kent District School Board (urban, rural and First Nations mix). It is probable that between 10% and 15% of students require Special Education because of prenatal exposure to alcohol.

Hopefully, PHAC and Health Canada will recognize the report as establishing the true incidence of these issues in Canada.

On June 15th we were treated to lunch at Wabano Aboriginal Health Access Centre. What a wonderful group of people. They invited us to join them at a fundraiser Strawberry Tea to be held at the home of the British High Commissioner and his wife. Wonderful native drumming, singing, hoop dancing, jingle dancing and Metis jigs. A very successful day.