For many people living in remote Indigenous communities, access to essential products can be costly and, in some cases, require a lengthy trip to the nearest big box store. Humanitarian charity True North Aid defines a remote Indigenous community as one that is two or more hours from a hospital, grocery stores, and social services.
In regions like Nunavut, where Indigenous people make up nearly 90 percent of the territory’s population, access to clean water is a recurring challenge. As a result, some people are making the difficult decision between buying water and food or other items like menstrual products.
“People in Indigenous communities … their necessities of life are at a much higher cost than in Toronto or Halifax or any urban centre in Canada,” Latifa, vice-president of events for the University of Ottawa’s Moon Time Connections, tells Apt613.
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A box of menstrual pads in Northern Canada can cost four times as much as the same ones in Ottawa, Latifa says.
“Are they going to buy bottled water or are they going to buy tampons? They don’t always have the extra $40, and because of that, it’s so important we get these donations to help equalize that gap,” says Latifa.
“That’s because when you’re in a remote community, it’s not as simple as a farmer growing the food, a trucker taking the food to the grocery store—and that’s that. It’s much more complex. In a lot of these places, you can only get there by ice roads in the winter, or you need to have a plane to fly things in—or a helicopter. So, you see those extra costs that are created in bringing things and getting access to things. You see that extra cost, in monetary form, when you’re paying at the counter.”
With that in mind, the Concert for a Cause is raising funds to get period products to remote Indigenous communities. It’s part of a project from True North Aid, which coordinates various Moon Time Connections chapters across the country.
It’s the first time the U of O Moon Time Connections is putting on a concert. Organizers say the show will be a fun way for people of all ages to support the charity’s cause.
“Whenever you see people taking their time and energy and using it to help people who need it, that’s something that always feels great to be a part of,” says Michael Lisinski, songwriter for the alternative rock band Kestrel Blue, the event’s headliner.
Headliners Kestrel Blue. Photo provided.
Attendees will also be able to catch performances by acoustic rocker Petty Cache and psychedelic emo group Futura Free.
“They’re very much more of an alternative rock-type of style music, which is very appealing to a lot of university students,” Latifa says. “So it’s going to be very much local bands, local music. A very fun night—almost like a new rock generation concert.”
It’s something members of Kestrel Blue are happy to volunteer their time to, Lisinski tells Apt613.
“We’re encouraging people when they come to bring box donations if they’re able to, but just buying a ticket, that’s enough. That’s a monetary donation; it’s covering the cost of the event, but it’s also the extra money that’s going to be going towards our cause.”
Moon Time Connections is consecutively running a product drive until the second week of March. Physical donations can be dropped off at the U of O’s Feminist Resource Centre, the Student Rights Centre, and the campus clinic.
Concert for a Cause arrives at the Rainbow Bistro on February 28 at 8:30pm. Tickets are available online at Eventbrite for $12 and will be available at the door for $15.
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