Indigenous and Northern Affairs Committee on May 26th, 2020

[Marilène Gill, Bloc, Manicouagan, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

[Member spoke in aboriginal language]

[Translation]

Mr. Therrien Pinette and Mr. Vollant, I have several questions for you. I would have liked to have done them in three steps: one for what we've experienced, one for what we're experiencing now and one for the future. I don't know if we'll have enough time, but I'll leave you time to speak.

Mr. Vollant, you spoke about the psychosocial situation and about the needs of the Innu and first nations peoples.

What measures related to the pandemic should we implement now, during the pandemic?

Can you tell us what you need?

[Dr. Stanley Vollant]

In terms of psychosocial needs, more money from the federal government would certainly be welcome. A lot of money has been spent throughout the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada. I find that the proportion spent on first nations peoples is far lower per capita compared to the Canadian public.

Psychosocial problems, health problems and access to health care for indigenous peoples, in communities and off reserve, are largely underestimated. However, we are among the most vulnerable populations as a result of concomitant diseases, such as diabetes, pervasive obesity, hypertension, the fact that people live in multi-generational houses, not to mention the social problem. I think it's unfortunate that the percentage of the budget allocated to first nations peoples to help them combat COVID-19 is woefully insufficient.

I urge the federal government to do much better to save first nations peoples and to prevent a health and a psychosocial catastrophe in our communities.

[Marilène Gill, Bloc, Manicouagan, QC]

Thank you, Dr. Vollant.

From what I understand, the assistance given to first nations is not proportional. Furthermore, since the needs are not the same, the assistance should be adapted, if not increased, based on needs. These are urgent needs. Chief Mckenzie mentioned infrastructure and housing needs, among others.

Thank you for everything you've done to help the Innu nation. I'd like you to tell us, based on what you've experienced on the crisis unit, what improvements the government should make rapidly, in the event that there is a second wave. As you said, Dr. Vollant, it's still possible.

[Dr. Stanley Vollant]

There will be a second wave, and even a third. That's certain. The question is when and how. If we look at past situations, for example the Spanish flu, we can expect the second wave to hit harder than the first. The Innu nation was fortunate to be spared. We took measures quickly, created our Innu monitoring committee and immediately closed our communities. Quebec shut down the regions. However, as a result of the quarantine, I'm extremely worried, in particular for first nations and Innu peoples, that the virus will pick up again and that the second wave will be deadlier and more aggressive than the first one.

We'd like the federal government and provincial governments to work together to eliminate the barriers that separate their respective jurisdictions.

[Marilène Gill, Bloc, Manicouagan, QC]

We certainly want to work with you, since the first nations are the only ones who know what is best for themselves.

We're worried about a second or third wave, but there are still talks about reopening. I think this could be an opportunity to address the urgent needs of the first nations and to have them participate fully and meaningfully in the recovery.

We know that there are needs in the first nations, so do you think this could give young people and first nations peoples the opportunity to contribute to this recovery?

[Jean-Claude Pinette]

I'll jump in here.

Earlier, the representative from Manitoba went through the determinants of health. In order to take another step and keep up the marathon to avoid the worst in a possible second wave, but also in the short and medium term, we will certainly have to invest in all determinants of health, in economic and social sectors, as well as education and housing. I think that if we want to make successful strategic investments, we'll need an overview of the situation.

Earlier you spoke about the psychosocial aspect. What we've envisioned is the following. We need to be able to intervene properly before the problem reappears. We're talking about prevention. We also need to be able to intervene properly when the problem is rampant in the community. Right now, new synthetic drugs, consumed at parties or in recreational settings, are circulating. If someone manages to get clean during a long period of isolation, when they come out of that isolation—

[Marilène Gill, Bloc, Manicouagan, QC]

Tshinashkumitin. Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Bob Bratina]

I'm sorry to interrupt, but we're well over time. I want to move to our next questioner, but I'm sure we'll reprise this topic throughout our discussion.

Ms. Qaqqaq, just before you start your six minutes, I need to speak to Ms. Meawasige.

Ms. Meawasige, I understand that you're having trouble with interpretation. Perhaps you could click the button onto the French side to hear it.

[Amanda Meawasige]

I don't see that as a menu option, but I have staff who are assisting me, so I should be able to proceed.

[The Chair, Liberal, Bob Bratina]

Okay. Once again, let us know if you're having problems.

Ms. Qaqqaq, please go ahead for six minutes.

[Mumilaaq Qaqqaq, NDP, Nunavut, NU]

Matna. Thank you, Chair.

I'll give just a quick shout-out to our tech team and our interpreters for doing their best to keep us on track.

Thank you to all the witnesses for presenting and sharing your wonderful knowledge with us. It's so important to hear all different voices from across the country.

My first question is for Ms. Meawasige. I hope I'm saying your name right.

We've heard from a lot of other witnesses that communities are now always being kept informed about how much testing is being done and how data is being collected. Has this been your experience, and what kind of impact does a lack of data sharing have on your ability to operate?

I'm going to ask that we try and hover at about a minute for responses because I have a time limit.

[Amanda Meawasige]

Okay. I'll answer now.

Fortunately for us—and maybe a little bit unfortunately—we had the H1N1 experience of 2009, so there's been a lot of intergovernmental collaboration and experience that can be drawn on. Therefore, we were able to move quite swiftly with respect to developing a data-sharing agreement that would allow first nation identifiers, giving us real-time data to develop a better response in terms of the numbers that we're seeing and to identify some potential trends.

For us, it's been a really good experience, but this needs to continue. This is not just data collection on the COVID pandemic. There are a lot of other pressing and emergent health issues. This type of collaboration needs to be entrenched and sustained throughout government processes with first nations.

[Mumilaaq Qaqqaq, NDP, Nunavut, NU]

Absolutely. Thank you for that.

My next question is for Chief Mckenzie.

What has your experience been in the delivery of personal protective equipment and other resources to your community? Were they what you expected, and did you feel that you were able to have a say in what communities needed?

[Chief Mike Mckenzie]

It took a long time to deliver the necessary protective equipment to all the communities. It took a really long time. As I said in my opening speech, there was a jurisdictional squabble between the provincial and federal governments at the beginning of the pandemic.

In the meantime, our first nations government took steps on our end to prepare our communities for the pandemic, in spite of everything we were going through. We've already lived through similar crises with other diseases, so first nations have some experience.

We went through hell trying to get our hands on PPE. It took a month, a month and a half, maybe two months, before first nations got PPE.

[Mumilaaq Qaqqaq, NDP, Nunavut, NU]

Thank you so much for sharing.

My next question is for Dr. Vollant. I don't know if I'm saying your name correctly.

Communities in Nunavut—and I'm sure it's similar for your communities—have now been waiting months for care that is deemed non-essential. Are you worried about the long-term impacts if people can't access basic care?

[Dr. Stanley Vollant]

Yes, I'm worried about delays in routine care.

I'm a cancer specialist at Hôpital Notre-Dame. Because of the epidemic, many people in Quebec and in the communities are stuck waiting for their test results or treatment. There will be long-term consequences. This will translate to higher mortality rates from cancer.

Many people haven't received their results from diabetes screening tests or tests for kidney or retinal disease. Unfortunately, this pandemic is likely to have long-term consequences.

That's a general observation that applies to the whole country and Quebec. Quebec is one of the epicentres of the pandemic in North America. It's a little harder. People aren't allowed to travel, but if they do need to go see their specialist in Montreal or Quebec City, they have to self-isolate when they go home because of the risk of contaminating their communities. It's a huge problem.

[Mumilaaq Qaqqaq, NDP, Nunavut, NU]

I think I have about 30 seconds, so we can continue, Doctor.

Can you talk a bit about the delivery of mental health supports and some of those barriers at this time?

[Dr. Stanley Vollant]

A lot of people in the community work in psychosocial services, but we're seeing an increase in distress and addiction. We need more resources to help communities get their heads above water owing to all the psychosocial side effects of the pandemic. These people need more help.

[The Chair, Liberal, Bob Bratina]

Thank you very much. We're moving on now to five-minute rounds.

Mr. Viersen, please go ahead for five minutes.

[Arnold Viersen, Conservative, Peace River—Westlock, AB]

Thank you, Mr. Chair, and thank you to our witnesses for being here today.

I'm going to start with you, Ms. Meawasige. I was looking at the background and mandate of the First Nations Health and Social Secretariat of Manitoba. It seems that it is about the planning and developing of a unified health system in Manitoba. I was just wondering how that's going. Have you seen that improve during COVID, given the fact that a Manitoban is a Manitoban regardless of where they live?

[Amanda Meawasige]

I appreciate that question. Right now, I guess because there's a threat to the general public's health, there's always a political will to respond to first nation emergencies. When an emergency happens, such as H1N1 and this pandemic that we're going through, governments are quick to react swiftly. That type of reaction needs to continue when there are other pressing issues.

Fortunately, right now, during the emergency and the pandemic, we do have strong intergovernmental response and collaboration, but that needs to be formalized and it needs to be ongoing to continue addressing all of the public health issues beyond the pandemic response.

[Arnold Viersen, Conservative, Peace River—Westlock, AB]

We've seen is that getting protective equipment into northern communities has been a challenge. Do you have any examples of that in your area? Do you see it differing from community to community?

[Amanda Meawasige]

There is a shortage of PPE within our communities. We do have adequate supplies for the nursing stations, and it seems that ISC has been very good in responding to that request, but we do have shortages in our personal care homes, for example. We know that the elderly population is at an increased risk from COVID, so it's very important to have appropriate numbers of PPE. We also have people who have ongoing addiction issues and require daily medical travel, for example, for harm reduction medication. They're often travelling without PPE in confined spaces.

Most definitely, this is why we say it's imperative that first nations be at the top of the list for these types of materials, given that we don't have adequate primary and public health care available at the community level.

[Arnold Viersen, Conservative, Peace River—Westlock, AB]

Thank you.

Is there a difference if it's delivered provincially or federally? Are you seeing a difference in the availability of these materials at all?

[Amanda Meawasige]

I think the collaboration has been very fruitful in terms of trying to determine whose role and responsibility it is to advocate for first nations for their PPE. The province does provide some PPE to some of our health centres and communities, but it's a provision of the federal government, and those numbers need to be forthcoming with respect to a potential second wave. Are we appropriately ready for it, given that there's a shortage right now?