Individual settlers: Cultural safety begins with your cultural awareness and sensitivity (Connor and McEldowney, 2011). Commit to continuous education. Cultural safety education can be incorporated formally, in CE, university classes, seminars, and forums (True North Aid, 2020). It can also be incorporated informally, through subscriptions to Indigenous publication, following Indigenous content creators, attending Indigenous created and curated gallery and museum exhibits, and attending ceremonies (True North Aid, 2020). Talk to others about what you are learning.

Organizations: The Ministry of Health and the Health Authorities can support settler leaders like me by encouraging a culture of continuous education. Professional colleges could require a certain amount of annual cultural safety CE and schools could introduce curriculum and events in way that teaches ongoing reflection and learning (Turpel-Lafond, 2020).

Individual settlers: The most culturally safe policies and programs are those developed by Indigenous peoples for Indigenous Peoples (Canadian Virtual Hospice, 2021). If you have hiring responsibilities, consider prioritizing hiring or promoting Indigenous peoples (Turpel-Lafond, 2020; TRC, 2015).

Organizations: Consult with Indigenous peoples whenever you develop a project, program, or policy that might impact them, but also consider when you consult. Are you welcoming constructive feedback at the beginning of your project, when that knowledge can become part of the foundation, or are you consulting at the end, when suggestions may need to be woven into an existing structure where they might not fit as easily (Canadian Virtual Hospice, 2021; Turpel-Lafond, 2020; TRC, 2015)?

Individual settlers: Explore your identity. Consider how your identity impacts your work, your relationships, and your feelings about cultural safety (Connor and McEldowney, 2011).

Organizations: Encourage education on intersectionality and gender-based analysis within your organization, to support staff as they learn about the experiences of others and consider their own identities and biases.

Individual settlers: Explore your relationships with others. Consider how you support the people around you, and the assumptions or beliefs you hold about them. Be honest without yourself about any assumptions that might stop you from engaging with them in certain ways.

Explore your relationships with Indigenous peoples. Identify any organizations (such as the Ministry of Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation or First Nations Health Authority), offices (such as the Office of Indigenous Health, or an Aboriginal Health Office within a health authority), or openly Indigenous-identified leaders or coworkers in your area. Identify shared goals and visions and connect regularly.

Organizations: Encourage cross-organizational communication and information sharing to support these relationships. Examine your current relationship with the nation upon whose lands whose lands you operate, and explore possibilities for strengthening that relationship (Turpel-Lafond, 2020).

Individual settlers: If your work impacts the lives of people in rural and remote locations, evaluate your knowledge about the challenges and resources in these areas honestly. If it is sparse, consider developing relationships with others who know the region better, and ensure you assign staff from rural and remote regions to projects that will support these areas.

Organizations: Develop regional policies and programs rather than adopting a “one size fits all” approach. Consider creative solutions to support rural and remote regions, including telemedicine. Review current policies with people from rural and remote areas to determine if existing frameworks negatively impact them. Consult with people from impacted areas and redesign according to their specifications (Turpel-Lafond, 2020; TRC, 2015).

Individual settlers: Consider the cultural experiences that are important to you – they might be related to food, family, holidays, or music. Think about how comfortable you are sharing about your culture with others. Barriers that prevent you from being forthcoming might also impact others. Explore ways to support cultural diversity in your work. Embrace cultural exchange as an opportunity to deepen both relationships and understanding.

Organizations: Organizations can support cultural exchange through events (perhaps especially food-based events), and by recognizing the diverse identities of the people that make up the organization. Public service does a good job of acknowledging a wide away of religious holidays in its newsletters; however, how can they go a step further and offer employees the opportunity to use their statutory pay on their own religious holidays rather than only the Christian Easter and Christmas. Further, how can organizations support, recognize, and consider traditional foods, ceremonies, and gatherings. One suggestion Cynthia made during this study was an encyclopedia of cultural death practices, written by Indigenous communities. Other ideas should be developed through consultation (Turpel-Lafond, 2020; TRC, 2015).

Individual settlers: Consider who you share with and help.

Organizations: Consult with Indigenous peoples specifically on the accessibility of information and services within your organization. Implement any information sharing agreements necessary to de-silo supports and referrals. Ensure any complaints processes are readily available and can be deemed culturally safe by Indigenous peoples (Turpel-Lafond, 2020;TRC, 2015).

Individual settlers: Leadership by example has the capacity to inspire action and change in others (Senge, 2006). Be open about your commitment to cultural safety in your leadership practice, share your educational resources with others, and exemplify cultural humility by embracing the vulnerability of recognizing your own bias, narratives, and need for both learning and unlearning (FNHA, 2016; Brown, 2018)

Organizations: Employee recognition is already built into many industries, but the Ministry, the Health Authority, and other systems within health care could support leaders who model the way with cultural safety by shining a spotlight on their work. As a Ministry employee, I feel there have been some early systemic steps to model the way, like the Minister’s Mandate Letter and the Service Plan, as well as the Ministry-wide support for wearing orange during the month of June, recognizing the Federal day for Truth and Reconciliation, and by offering sympathy and resources to Indigenous staff after Tk’emlúps te Secwe̓pemc began to recover Indigenous children. On a more impactful scale, the Minister’s commitment to implementing all of the findings from IPS and the hiring of Dawn Thomas as Associate Deputy Minister of Indigenous Health are meaningful leadership moves.

Individual settlers: Remember that every individual’s needs are unique. Abstain from making assumptions and ask those you are interacting with to advise you of their ideal outcome. If that person’s needs are outside your scope, work with them to identify another individual who can help. Asking this question and delivering what is identified is accountability.

Organizations: This question could be used in Ministry focus groups, in inter-organizational meetings, or cross-jurisdictional working groups. Any time Indigenous people should be consulted, a version of this question is appropriate.