Hobbema demands treatment centre

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It is no secret that alcohol and drugs caused problems for Hobbema's four Indian nations.

Resolving them called for residential treatment centre.

Hobbema leaders gave that message to Minister of Health and Welfare Perrin Beatty at the opening of the Nayo-Skan Treatment Centre (NSTC) Oct. 19.

Beatty met medical and dental staff on a short tour of the centre and was treated to a dance demonstration.

Before the demonstration he heard concerns from the four chiefs of the area.

Health and Welfare's refusal to grant the reserve a 30-bed alcohol and drug treatment centre became the most contentious subject.

The board of directors for the Nayo-Skan Treatment Centre have been negotiating for a residential treatment facility since 1985.

One of the board's objectives is to have a healthy community, said Theresa Bull, the centre's executive director. "I know it will take many years to achieve that."

Louis Bull Chief Simon Threefingers expected problems to increase because of a recent influx of large numbers of people. Already some of the reserves are overpopulated and will grow even more because people who fall under Bill C-31 are

moving back in increasing numbers, he said.

To build the treatment centre approval must be sought from the Department of Public Works, Health and Welfare Canada and Hobbema Indian Health Services. The government departments agreed to a 16-bed treatment facility but that is not what

Hobbema wants.

"What we are deciding to do is to put the project on hold and continue negotiating for continuation of our current program as well as what we call a multi-care facility," said Nayo-Skan director Clive Linklater.

"There are many other services that need to be delivered. We have no adequate facilities to deal with our ongoing program," he said.

"Currently we are operating out of a set of trailers which we have rented. They are inadequate."

Linklater explained the board wants to keep the current alcohol program and build a new, bigger building for live-in treatment and other services.

He said the multi-care facility will include alcohol workshops, training sessions, group counselling sessions and meetings.

An independent study backs up a request for the larger facility.

A June 1988 study by independent Ottawa consultants recommended that the reserve get a 30-bed treatment centre.

The study indicated the consultants were impressed with the "breadth and the depth" of the current alcohol treatment program for its range of services, which include individual, family and group counselling, and in-school program, treatment,

follow-up and suicide awareness and prevention.

The program is based on a comprehensive community approach to an alcohol and drug program, said Linklater.

"We have one of the best programs in the nation," commented Cara Currie, a representative from the Montana band. Currie has been a NSTC board member for two and a half years and said it has done its "homework."

She said the board's documentation indicates the Nayo-Skan Human Resources Program is one of the most poorly funded in Canada despite an excellent record.

There is another problem if the treatment centre is approved, according to Linklater who said the current alcohol program could be cut off.

The National Native Alcohol and Drug Abuse Program (NNADAP), which funds the program, will divert program monies into the centre.]

"The board says we need both the treatment centre and our ongoing program," he added.

"The board is reluctant to go ahead with a treatment centre and give out our current program. We would like to proceed on both fronts."

The consultant's evaluation of the program in 1988 was "very positive" and recommended it to be funded in addition to the treatment centre. The government has not responded to the report, Linklater said. He said he heard a rumor that they have

prepared a response but none had been received.

Linklater said Beatty agreed to meet with the chiefs in a closed-door session to discus the matter.

In the meantime, the board of directors has discussed the continuation of the alcohol and drug program with NNADAP, "but as of this moment we have not come to any resolution," he concluded.

Another major concern for the chiefs was the refusal of auto insurance companies to pay for ambulance services, which the companies feel is the responsibility of the federal government.

"It's another sad instance where Natives are, in one sense, being disregarded on their rights for insurance coverage," said acting chief Jim Omeaso, representing chief Victor Buffalo of the Samson Nation.

Omeaso believes Beatty and his department representatives would sit down to figure out a strategy to pressure the insurance companies to pay for the ambulance services.

"I find it appalling that the insurance companies have taken the position that they have," replied Beatty. "We will work very closely with you to try and get that changed. You paid for the premiums, you are entitled to full services.

"And anything which denies Canadians that full equal treatment is something which is simply intolerable."