SIOUX LOOKOUT – “Health care for our people is not a health-care benefit, it is a treaty, an inherent right (…) It is a treaty obligation that must be fulfilled,” said the former chief of Neskantaga First Nation, Christopher Moonias.
About 400 people gathered outside the Indigenous Services Canada office in Sioux Lookout on Monday afternoon to raise awareness about flaws within the Non-Insured Health Benefits (NIHB) program intended to ensure access to health care for Indigenous people.
In the first week of June, five members of Neskantaga have already missed appointments due to no travel accommodations being made. Last month, there were 21 appointments missed in the small community of just over 300 people, according to a spokesperson for the First Nation, Wayne Moonias.
Wayne, like Chris, is also a former chief of the First Nation.
“The fact that people are being informed and notified an hour before their flight, its unacceptable. It’s unacceptable for anybody, regardless of what colour of skin you have,” continued Wayne.
This comes a week and a half after pediatrician Dr. Anna Banerji demanded a “complete overhaul” of the program’s transportation system, calling it “profoundly disrespectful” to both patients and health-care providers, in a letter to ISC.
Chris is now the manager of the community’s child and family services program and was amongst the community leaders who spoke at the Neskantaga-led rally.
Chris said that he recently had to approve payment through the First Nation for a hotel room for a young mother and her one-year-old child, after NIHB said they were unable to accommodate them because there were no rooms available at the specific hotel companies that the program uses.
He was able to find a room at the first hotel he called that was not affiliated with NIHB, at the community’s expense. “They were willing to let a young mother and child go homeless for the night,” he said.
“The government pushed their agenda to mine our territories (under) the guise of economic reconciliation. Economic reconciliation cannot occur without healthy communities,” said Chris.
“The water issues, housing issues, health issues, infrastructure issues, NIHB issues and other quality of life issues we face daily affect our physical, emotional and mental health, and spiritual well-being.”
“It’s a deliberate and systemic destruction of our people. This is what you call genocide,” he said. “We must take action. I call on First Nations to launch a class-action against both governments.”
“There will be more days of action to follow if we don’t see the changes that we’re seeking right now,” said Nishnawbe Aski Nation Grand Chief Alvin Fiddler.
NIHB’s objective, said Fiddler, “is not to keep you well, or to keep you alive. Their job and their objective is to operate with the regional envelope that they get every year. That is it.
“And that is why so many people are being denied access to the services that they need to keep well, to maintain their health, or to treat them when they’re sick,” Fiddler continued.
Also in attendance was Kiiwetinoong MPP Sol Mamakwa, who said that although the program is at the federal level, he wants to support the people that he represents. Mamakwa said that there is an opportunity for the province to step in and help.
Mamakwa said that the rally is “one of the many steps that we’re going to be implementing to make sure that there’s awareness of the impacts of the dysfunctionality of the non-insured benefits, especially in the Sioux Lookout office.”
He added that they recognize that the problem does not stem from the employees in the building, but from the system and policy itself.
Among the changes that the First Nations want to see is having accommodations arranged by the First Nations patients belong to.
“Our communities need to be involved in the way medical transportation is arranged and coordinated and organized, and I think there’s an opportunity there for ISC and the Crown and the First Nations to do that,” said Wayne.
“We need to make sure that those kinds of solution-based approaches are in place, because its real, and this is where our treaty partners need to come to the table,” he said.
In an email to Newswatch, ISC said they “respect the right to a peaceful protest and encourage dialogue in all cases.” They also acknowledged “that medical transportation is a critical service for remote and fly-in community.”
“We recognize the very serious impacts that any gaps in service can have on clients and acknowledge the concerns raised by First Nations leadership and partners in Ontario,” wrote ISC spokesperson Pascal Laplante.
“To improve service efficiency, we have increased staffing and training, and simplified internal processes as well as travel request documentation. These changes aim to improve travel request processing times, reduce delays, and decrease phone wait times.”
He continued that after receiving feedback from clients, communities and health partners, they “will continually re-assess call center performance and service levels, and further streamline our processes to improve client-focused service.”
