Indigenous and Northern Affairs Committee on Oct. 17th, 2016

[Dr. Lisa Bourque Bearskin]

Right.

[Mike Bossio, Liberal, Hastings—Lennox and Addington, ON]

Okay, so there is no dedicated funding.

We don't know how many nurses are out there. We don't know how many nurses are needed. We don't know what percentage of those nurses are indigenous.

Are there any schools around health care training in indigenous communities?

[Dr. Lisa Bourque Bearskin]

No, there's not. That's the vision of CINA we'd like to develop. We talked with Jane Philpott last week about creating a 10-year plan looking at creating indigenous nursing areas of excellence in each of the four directions of our country. If we had one in the north, one in the south, one in the east, and one in the west, we could really do some great work around supporting, recruiting, and retaining indigenous nurses across the country.

[Mike Bossio, Liberal, Hastings—Lennox and Addington, ON]

Okay, I'm out of time, I'm afraid.

[The Chair, Liberal, Andy Fillmore]

We've come down to our final question, and it's from David Yurdiga, please.

[David Yurdiga, Conservative, Fort McMurray—Cold Lake, AB]

I'd like to thank the witnesses for presenting today and taking our questions.

I'd like to mention that Beaver Lake is within my riding, and my wife's family is from Beaver Lake, so it's nice to see you here, Dr. Lisa.

We spend a lot of time and capital recruiting health care professionals, but what is being done to retain these individuals, especially in the remote communities?

[Dr. Lisa Bourque Bearskin]

It's very frustrating, because I get weekly calls, as the president, from indigenous nurses in these communities who are burnt out, stressed out, and have no support. One nurse was in her community for three weeks providing 24-7 care. There's no way we're going to be able to retain that nurse. She's going to be burnt out. There's a huge lack of community support. I think that was made clear by the Auditor General, who found that one in 45 nurses is prepared to work in the communities and in their scope of practice. It's hugely telling to me that we have not developed a very functioning health care system.

[Lindsay Jones]

I'd like to add to that.

At TRU campus, we have an indigenous nurse health committee, and one of our practicum placements is in Hazelton. I think the way that Thompson River University is starting to branch out and have placements in more indigenous rural communities is an excellent start.

[David Yurdiga, Conservative, Fort McMurray—Cold Lake, AB]

Thank you.

May I hear from Marion Crowe, please?

[Marion Crowe]

Thank you.

In further quantifying that, we need to have the supports in place to retain our indigenous health professionals, not just at the national level and the regional level, but at the community level as well. Organizations like CINA, like IPAC, the Indigenous Physicians Association, and like FNHMA are providing the network to keep those people in place in our communities. Without that, I've heard health directors all across Canada say, “I wish you would have been in place 10 years ago.” We're six years young, our organization. We need to support the professional associations. As Lisa mentioned, we're two organizations right now that are unfunded.

[David Yurdiga, Conservative, Fort McMurray—Cold Lake, AB]

If we had funding, what could be done to retain these health professionals? What do you envision that would make a big difference?

[Marion Crowe]

I think Lisa will have a lot of thoughts on this, too.

The number of projects are endless that we could look at to help retain our supports. There are a number of projects that we've put forward to the Government of Canada around a hotline of some sort, as you would see in crisis intervention. If I were a health director and I had a question about how to report, who can I call as an actual support to me to address the health inequities in my community, I think that's one thing, and it's a role that national organizations have.

It goes back to being equitable. There are national organizations that are supported, core funded, actually, and you're looking at two of the front-line health services delivery organizations that have nothing.

[David Yurdiga, Conservative, Fort McMurray—Cold Lake, AB]

We hear about a lot of people going into these rural communities and leaving. I'm looking at the educational aspect of things. When a youth goes into the nursing profession, is there traditional spiritual healing incorporated in the post-secondary institution?

[Marion Crowe]

Is that question for me?

[David Yurdiga, Conservative, Fort McMurray—Cold Lake, AB]

Yes.

[Marion Crowe]

I can't speak to nursing, but I can speak to the education and certification criteria as set out by this professional association. The training that is provided through the organization of FNHMA is relevant around incorporating the culture of how people practise in our communities. That's why we exist. We did an environmental scan across Canada and said that yes, tons of universities deliver business administration, health services administration, but there is nobody in Canada who is able to develop a curriculum that speaks to the governance of our communities and also speaks to all the jurisdictional issues that our communities represent, while respecting western medicine and incorporating our traditional knowledge. We celebrate and share in that.

[The Chair, Liberal, Andy Fillmore]

We're out of time, I'm afraid. We're out of time for the two panels as well, with that final question.

I would like to thank all of our witnesses for coming today: Marion Crowe and Calvin Morrisseau from the First Nations Health Managers Association; and Dr. Lisa Bourque Bearskin and Lindsay Jones from the Canadian Indigenous Nurses Association. Thank you so much for your heartfelt and thoughtful testimony today. It will certainly help us out a great deal in the work that lies ahead.

We will just suspend for a few minutes before we go in camera.

[Proceedings continue in camera]