Thank you.
Taanishi. Hello, everyone.
Good afternoon, Mr. Chair and committee members. Thank you for providing us this opportunity to participate in your hearing today.
I'm here as the minister of health with Métis Nation-Saskatchewan to speak to you about non-insured health benefits for our Métis citizens. They have identified it as a top health priority across our homeland.
You've heard from our president, Métis National Council president Cassidy Caron, recently. I'd like to provide further details on the health experiences of our people, and I want to specifically comment on the non-insured health benefits.
Métis Nation-Saskatchewan is one of the four governing members of the MNC. We represent the Métis citizens in Saskatchewan. Our Métis nation legislative assembly governs our people and also enacts legislation and regulations for the conduct of the Métis Nation-Saskatchewan.
Our people have a holistic understanding of health, shaped by larger social structures that include kinship ties, community, identity and culture, and especially connections to the land. These principles are foundational to any work that addresses health inequities faced by Métis people.
Colonization is an important social determinant of health that contributes to the health inequalities faced by Métis peoples to this day. Examples of colonial practices include residential schools, day schools and industrial schools. There's a large proportion of Métis children in care, which we'd like to address, and there is ongoing systemic racism in our health care institutions.
In the last several years, MN-S has carried out several engagement sessions across the province, across our 12 regions, and has reached out to over 800 citizens. They have expressed their top priority, which is non-insured health benefits, and would like to see that come to fruition in the future. I'd like to share some of their experiences with you today.
Regarding affordability of health care and medication, many citizens cannot afford to prioritize their health. For example, citizens may choose between their basic needs, such as shelter and food, and their medications and prescriptions. We've also heard stories across the homeland that some folks who are living on a fixed income, particularly elders and seniors in our communities, in order to ensure that people are getting the medications or the prescriptions, share prescriptions among their family members who take the same medication or with other community members, neighbours or friends. This is quite alarming to us as health care advocates. We'd like to address that.
High food costs and costs for testing equipment, such as diabetes implements and equipment, are barriers to good health for Métis citizens. This barrier is especially concerning among, as I mentioned, our seniors and elders. There's an urgent need to support the cost of prescription medication for seniors and to prioritize home care and long-term care in our local communities. Oftentimes our elders are shipped away because the long-term care facilities are outside their communities. We know, and learned from experience in listening to citizens, that this is often the case, and then they lose contact with their families and their connection to the land, and their community life as well. That is a concern for us.
We've also heard stories about cancer patients living hundreds of miles away from cancer centres and sleeping in their vehicles because they couldn't afford hotel accommodations after their treatment. It's too far for them to go home when they're not feeling well after a cancer treatment. That is concerning for us as well. It's very common for Métis families and communities to regularly host fundraisers to raise money so that families can afford to stay in a hotel and to ensure that their needs are met when they're going through cancer treatments.
During the pandemic, MN-S started a medical travel assistance program to support the costs of fuel, food and accommodations required by high-need and low-income people who have medical appointments and access that program. Since July 2020 we've supported 965 citizens to attend almost 4,000 medical appointments. The cost is just over $500,000. These numbers demonstrate the significant need for Métis-specific medical travel assistance, yet the program does not have sustainable funding.
The Northwest Territories is the only jurisdiction in Canada that sponsors non-insured health benefits for Métis citizens. The program is administered by Alberta Blue Cross, an external service provider, and covers eligible prescription drugs, dental services, vision care, medical supplies and implements or equipment, as well as medical travel benefits. This program provides a successful model that the MN-S can implement across the Métis homeland in Saskatchewan in collaboration with the federal and provincial governments.
MN-S and other MNC governing members—