Health discussion proves profitable

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The federal government has proposed expending hundreds of millions of new dollars to improve the health of Aboriginal peoples in Canada.

Prime Minister Paul Martin says another $700 million should be spent in addition to the $1.7 billion already expended with funds targeted to improving inefficiencies in the system, prevention initiatives and increasing the number of Aboriginal health care professionals working in the field.

The announcement was made at the beginning of the first ministers meeting on health held in Ottawa Sept. 13 to 15. Before the health care concerns of the nation were put on the table for discussion, the prime minister and the provincial and territorial leaders met with Aboriginal leaders to discuss Aboriginal-specific issues.

Assembly of First Nations (AFN) National Chief Phil Fontaine, Metis National Council (MNC) President Clement Chartier and Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami President Jose Kusugak joined Terry Brown, president of the Native Women's Association of Canada and Dwight Dorey, national chief of the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples, to speak on behalf of the nation's Native peoples.

Alberta Premier Ralph Klein talked about the need for a national response to the crisis of diabetes in the Aboriginal community. Fetal Alcohol Syndrome and the over prescribing of prescription drugs were also highlighted as problems being dealt with in the province. He said Aboriginal health care funding needed to be predictable and flexible enough to focus on housing and the promotion of healthy lifestyles.

British Columbia Premier Gordon Campbell said the living conditions of Aboriginal people in his province were 20 per cent lower than those of the province's mainstream population.

He said the "statistics are damning" with every statistic representing the lost dreams of an Aboriginal person and the lost future of an Aboriginal family. He reminded the prime minister that it was a legal and fiduciary responsibility of the federal government to deal with Aboriginal health concerns.

He thanked Fontaine for his "consistent, persistent and patient" support of the efforts being made in the province to improve the health care outcomes of the First Nations people living in B.C.

As Canada's other leaders spoke, there were themes of concern that bubbled to the surface. Jurisdictional issues seemed a main irritant.

Nova Scotia Premier John Hamm said there needed to be a clarification of the roles and responsibilities for Aboriginal health. That was echoed by Saskatchewan Premier Lorne Calvert, who also said there should be a focus on the determinates of health-housing, poverty, education-and not just on programming.

Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Danny Williams said action was needed immediately on broader social and cultural issues. He also said that mainstream Canada had no real appreciation for the magnitude of the health care problems facing the Aboriginal population.

Yukon Premier Dennis Fentie spoke in glowing terms of the self-government agreements achieved in his territory and how the autonomy of First Nations had led to greater improvements there.

Phil Fontaine called on the first ministers to agree to a special meeting on Aboriginal issues and there seemed to be some willingness among them for that. He said he was encouraged by the support of the premiers to see more control in the hands of Canada's first peoples and pleased with the country's willingness to invest in Aboriginal health care concerns.

Terry Brown said she was encouraged by the spirit of co-operation and collaboration from the premiers, but chastised the group for not inviting the Native women's group to an earlier session of premiers and Aboriginal leaders held at Niagara-on-the-Lake, calling it embarrassing and insulting. She asked for more consistency of inclusion and promised her group would make itself available for consultation.

Dwight Dorey said he was glad to see that the premiers were putting theocus on patient care over jurisdictional issues, and hoped that his fellow Aboriginal leaders could be equally as gracious. Dorey too had not been invited to the Niagara-on-the-Lake meeting, and has complained that AFN was encroaching on the Congress' turf when saying it represents off-reserve and non-status Indians as well as the on-reserve population.

Jose Kusugak made it clear he wanted Inuit-specific solutions to Inuit-specific problems. "Inuit are not Indians," he said, adding there were only 45,000 Inuit but they were spread out over 53 communities across a huge, remote area of the country. He asked that Arctic boundaries be respected and that the premiers remember that Inuit are taxpayers too.

Clement Chartier said he fully embraced the discussions on health and wanted the MNC to be fundamentally engaged in the process. He also told Ralph Klein he was hoping Alberta's current discussion for the advancement of Metis hunting and fishing rights gained with the Supreme Court's Powley decision could be expanded to include Metis health care concerns.