Indigenous and Northern Affairs Committee on Oct. 27th, 2020

[The Chair, Liberal, Bob Bratina]

Now you can address the matter.

[Lenore Zann, Liberal, Cumberland—Colchester, NS]

Actually, I wasn't quite finished. I was going to ask him this and then continue with my questioning. This is very important for Nova Scotia right now. We are in a pandemic, and people are gathering as we speak.

Mr. Chair, I would like to continue with this question and have the deputy minister answer so I can continue.

Thank you very much.

[The Chair, Liberal, Bob Bratina]

Okay, Ms. Zann, I take—

[Cathy McLeod, Conservative, Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo, BC]

And as my—

[The Chair, Liberal, Bob Bratina]

I'm sorry. I take the point on relevance, but I'll let you continue, because we're running very late into our time and we need to respect our witnesses.

Go ahead.

[Daniel Quan-Watson]

Mr. Chair, would you like me to answer that question?

[The Chair, Liberal, Bob Bratina]

Please go ahead.

[Daniel Quan-Watson]

First of all, it is a 21-year-old Supreme Court decision. Obviously, the rule of law requires that we respect decisions of the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court has also said in the past that we're all here to stay, and I think those relationships are incredibly important. We develop those relationships by having conversations and by understanding each other. Canada has a very long history of taking on very challenging and difficult questions.

I think this is another instance where we require all of those skill sets; we require all of that patience and we require all of that goodwill to make good on finding a solution for yet another challenging circumstance. We can lead through talking, we can lead through listening and we can lead through acting.

[Lenore Zann, Liberal, Cumberland—Colchester, NS]

Thank you very much for that.

My next question is about the health of the people here in Nova Scotia. We've done very well in our bubble. I'm wondering why cases are rising in indigenous communities in other parts of Canada. What are we doing differently here in Atlantic Canada? Would anyone like to try to respond to that? What is something that's working?

[Christiane Fox]

I'll start, and then I'll turn it over to Dr. Wong.

Obviously, we are paying very close attention to what's happening with the rise in cases. I think that the nimbleness and the outreach that was done at the early onset of COVID and the constant communications with communities put us in a good position to be able to respond, to be nimble as a department and really think about the unique and innovative ways we can help communities. I think that, obviously, the Atlantic bubble has contained the case count to a certain extent. We are seeing numbers rise, as you noted—

[The Chair, Liberal, Bob Bratina]

Could I ask you to just lower your mike a little bit? There is a bit of raspiness to it.

[Christiane Fox]

Is that better? Okay, thank you.

I'll turn it over to Dr. Wong to talk a little more about the state of affairs in Atlantic Canada.

[Lenore Zann, Liberal, Cumberland—Colchester, NS]

Thank you.

[Dr. Tom Wong]

Thank you so much, Deputy.

Yes, indeed. When we looked at the Atlantic bubble, the ability of the communities to maintain physical distancing, avoid crowds, wear non-medical masks when distancing was not possible, practise hand hygiene and respiratory hygiene, and stay home when they are sick, all of those things are examples of what Atlantic first nations communities are able to do.

When we look at some of the recent examples, both in non-indigenous and indigenous communities—first nations, Métis and Inuit—we see that when some individuals let their guards down and participate in gatherings of 300 people, rallies for example, without wearing masks and with no physical distancing, that's when you get those viruses, unfortunately.

Thank you.

[Lenore Zann, Liberal, Cumberland—Colchester, NS]

Thank you very much for that.

[The Chair, Liberal, Bob Bratina]

Thanks, Ms. Zann.

We'll go to Madame Bérubé for six minutes now.

[Sylvie Bérubé, Bloc, Abitibi—Baie-James—Nunavik—Eeyou, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

We're talking about health care, and it's also important in the case of seniors' residences in indigenous communities. Indigenous Services Canada has guidelines for long-term health care facilities and seniors' residences in indigenous communities. However, in the committee's December 2018 report, some witnesses were concerned about the lack of staff in long-term care facilities in indigenous communities. This has had a serious impact on patients.

How have indigenous people and communities contributed to the development of the guidelines?

What steps have been taken to ensure that these guidelines are adapted to the conditions particular to indigenous communities?

[Christiane Fox]

Thank you for the question.

Regarding guidelines, we have worked closely with Health Canada, not only to protect indigenous communities, indigenous elders, but also to ensure that it is done in a culturally appropriate, culturally sensitive way. We have tried to include the perspective of indigenous communities in the work that is being done at the national level.

I will now give the floor to Dr. Wong.

[Dr. Tom Wong]

Thank you very much.

For the guidelines we've been supporting in collaboration with indigenous partners, one of the things we have seen with those guidelines is the successes in first nations communities during wave one. Up to now, there are no outbreaks of COVID in long-term care facilities. A lot of that has to do with the strict adherence to those guidelines and supporting and protecting the elders. We look forward to communities supporting communities to use those guidelines to make sure they protect the elders in long-term care facilities in the north—unlike what's been happening in the south—and to continue the successes in the north.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Bob Bratina]

Madame Bérubé.

[Sylvie Bérubé, Bloc, Abitibi—Baie-James—Nunavik—Eeyou, QC]

Do employees in long-term care facilities and nursing homes in indigenous communities have access to a sufficient amount of personal protective equipment?

[Christiane Fox]

Thank you for the question.

I would say yes. We work with communities to ensure that they have the personal protective equipment necessary to support their work, so that they can work in healthy conditions, protect themselves and protect patients. To do this, we have deployed 130 nurses and 34 ambulance attendants. There are people on site and they have the personal protective equipment they need to do their jobs.

In addition, we work closely with the Public Health Agency of Canada to ensure that communities have what they need. So we need to maintain an ongoing dialogue. As Minister Miller indicated earlier in response to a question, we had 24 hours to make arrangements to ensure that people had the equipment quickly.

[The Chair, Liberal, Bob Bratina]

I hope Madame Bérubé heard the French audio, because we weren't getting the English. There was a technical sound issue.

Madame Bérubé, you have two more minutes.

[Sylvie Bérubé, Bloc, Abitibi—Baie-James—Nunavik—Eeyou, QC]

Thank you.

The COVID-19 pandemic is also impacting the provision of culturally appropriate care in long-term care facilities serving indigenous people.

We lived through the first wave, but for the second wave, in terms of accountability, could more emphasis be put on the needs of indigenous communities?

[Christiane Fox]

I will ask Ms. Gideon to answer that question.