Evidence of meeting #135 for Status of Women in the 42nd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was experience.
A recording is available from Parliament.
11:10 a.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Karen Vecchio
Thank you very much.
We're now going to move over to Jaelyn Jarrett.
You have two minutes.
11:10 a.m.
Jaelyn Jarrett As an Individual
Uplaakut.
Good morning. My name is Jaelyn Jarrett. I'm originally from a small Inuk community in northern Labrador called Nain, Nunatsiavut. In the early part of my life, I got the opportunity to be raised by my anaanatsiaq and my ataatatsiaq, my grandmother and my grandfather. They showed me my traditional way of life, how to live off the land, and my language. Those are values that I have carried with me every day throughout my 21 years. These were the best times of my life.
However, I've also been in foster care. I've been adopted; I have suffered from isolation in the cities and lost my language. I've had a grandparent who attended residential school, and I've dealt with the deep-rooted trauma that has come with that. I've also suffered from depression.
I'm still here, and I'm still breathing and, while it hasn't been easy, I'm very thankful for that. However, many of our Inuit youth are not actually able to say the same, and some of them aren't with us today. A few days ago, I was going through some of my childhood memorabilia, and I found a little kindergarten graduation cap. When I looked at the names inside the cap, I realized that a lot of the kids I had grown up with aren't with us today because they've taken their own lives. As I continued to look through my pictures and my memorabilia, I noticed that, as I have gotten older, I would put RIP next to some of the people I had lost.
While my story may seem kind of like an outlier compared to the rest of Canada, it's not. Unfortunately, it's probably very familiar to many Inuit. Whether it's losing family, relatives and friends to suicide, or whether it's being in the foster care system and suffering from isolation or suffering from loss of identity, it's very familiar, and I'm sure that what I'm saying can resonate with many Inuit.
11:10 a.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Karen Vecchio
I have to cut you off there; it was an excellent job.
Now, instead of three minutes, we're going to increase it to four minutes. We're going to give four minutes to the government side, four minutes to the Conservatives and four minutes to the NDP.
Rachel, you have four minutes.
April 2nd, 2019 / 11:10 a.m.
Liberal
Rachel Bendayan Liberal Outremont, QC
Thank you very much. Do I address the question to individuals specifically or...?
11:10 a.m.
Conservative
11:10 a.m.
Liberal
Rachel Bendayan Liberal Outremont, QC
Thank you very much for your presentations, which were all excellent.
I would like to ask a question of the last speaker. Your intervention was regarding the friends you've lost over the years, and perhaps you have some suggestions for federal government programs that might be able to assist young people in your community.
11:10 a.m.
As an Individual
There are two groups of Inuit: those who live in Inuit Nunangat, in the four Inuit regions, and also Inuit urban youth. I think what happens a lot of the time is that a lot of us fall between the cracks in policies and programs. Being an urban Inuk, I wasn't able to act on those programs in Ajax, where I had moved when I was adopted. I think programs that move us back to our culture in our communities are needed. Sometimes it's not accessible because of finances and such.
I think that programs and funding that allow youth to be able to go back to their small communities and experience their culture are really important. That's my suggestion for the federal and provincial governments, because obviously both are involved.
Thank you very much.
11:10 a.m.
Liberal
Rachel Bendayan Liberal Outremont, QC
Thank you.
With respect to the intervention regarding support for patients when they are in the doctor's office, I was wondering what type of support you think would be required. I believe you mentioned social work. Is there a specific kind of support that you had envisioned that a social worker could provide at that time?
11:15 a.m.
As an Individual
Yes. It's not necessarily a social worker. I'm a graduating health sciences student at Western University. We're looking into the implementation of a social prescription checklist for doctors. We know that doctors' time with the patients is relatively limited, so it's about giving doctors a checklist to go through the social supports that their patient does or does not have, and provide referrals if they themselves determine that this patient does not have adequate social support.
It's not necessarily adding any extra human resources to the hospital, but rather taking the extra minute from doctors and ultimately leveraging the existing social supports of the community.
11:15 a.m.
Liberal
Rachel Bendayan Liberal Outremont, QC
Given that you're in university at the moment, do you think that the current program in medical school prepares doctors to provide that type of service and support?
11:15 a.m.
As an Individual
I don't. I think it's growing, and I think it starts at the medical admission process. It has been relatively test-based, and the curriculum doesn't allow for doctors to gain an understanding of the social determinants of health. It has been functioning on the biomedical model, which puts the individual at the centre of everything.
In regard to medical education, I think we also need to teach prospective doctors that though an individual can do whatever they want to be healthy, if they exist in a system that does not accommodate that, then there is no point.
11:15 a.m.
Liberal
Rachel Bendayan Liberal Outremont, QC
Dharana, could you perhaps comment on the work that the government is currently doing with respect to a pharmacare program federally? Would that respond to some of your concerns?
11:15 a.m.
As an Individual
Sure. In terms of federal programs in that regard, at this point I can't speak specifically on that program. I think when it comes to health care, a lot of pressure is put on the provinces because health care is a provincial mandate. I think there needs to be more accountability put on provinces, and I think there needs to be streamlining.
Whether or not that is happening, it needs to be increased, and at least a fraction needs to be focused on people in poverty. Whether or not we have health care programs, that's fine, but I'm here to talk about poverty, and I'm here to talk about the fact that we have the history of health care programs, and that's great, but it doesn't matter that we have health care programs if they are not serving people in poverty.
A lot of that comes down to the fact that people in poverty cannot afford extended medical. It creates issues because they can't see specialists. They can't see doctors, and they can't afford their prescription medications. My mother cannot afford her insulin for diabetes, because there are no programs in place for her.
11:15 a.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Karen Vecchio
Thank you very much. You did a great job.
We're now going to move to Kellie Leitch. You have four minutes.
11:15 a.m.
Conservative
Kellie Leitch Conservative Simcoe—Grey, ON
Thank you very much.
Thank you all for taking some time to present to us today.
Dharana, I had a question for you first, because you raised the issue of health care. It was great to meet you yesterday. I hope you all enjoyed the reception last night.
Your points are very well taken with respect to the inequities in our health care system. I'm a practising physician, and I see them up close and personal, whether it be parents who have to drive literally hundreds of kilometres to see me.... The gas alone is probably different for them than it is for someone who could walk right next door.
What do you think is the public policy direction we should take to create that equity? Are there certain things outside the creation of social programs that we should be considering?
For example, Senator Michael Kirby, a Liberal senator many years ago, talked about accountability as part of the Canada Health Act. Should we be considering things like that so physicians and parliamentarians and everyone is accountable to that patient? If we're going to say that we're going to provide health care, we should actually do that.
What are your thoughts on that?
11:15 a.m.
As an Individual
Yes, I think that actually aligns very well with what I said in my speech, the fact that the federal government is not currently holding the provincial governments as accountable as I think they should be. As well, doctors holding themselves accountable for their patients is a massive issue, and I think it is something that could be easily fixed. It could be something that can be fixed, and it would help people living in poverty because it would help them access the resources they need to function better so they're not living for survival.
I think a lot of that includes extended medical care programs and opening up more facilities, opening up walk-in clinics. I understand that these are difficult things to establish; however, I don't think it should be something we turn away from just because it's hard.
11:20 a.m.
Conservative
Kellie Leitch Conservative Simcoe—Grey, ON
Right.
These are very challenging questions, and I think parliamentarians need to take responsibility for them, absolutely.
11:20 a.m.
Conservative
Kellie Leitch Conservative Simcoe—Grey, ON
Zola, I am not going to even try to pronounce your full first name. I am going to call you Zola.
You raised issues around physicians. Are you in medical school, or are you in the health sciences program?
11:20 a.m.
Conservative
Kellie Leitch Conservative Simcoe—Grey, ON
Okay.
Could you tell us a bit about whether it's different...? I was a professor at the University of Western Ontario, so I taught community health. I know what we teach our students, which does include education with regard to drug-related issues and addictions.
What do you learn in health sciences? Outside of just having physicians take on the responsibility, what do you think those other health care professionals should be doing to make sure we deal with this crisis?
11:20 a.m.
Conservative
Kellie Leitch Conservative Simcoe—Grey, ON
With respect to your own program, how are you being educated? How is it different from the medical school program?
11:20 a.m.
As an Individual
In the health sciences program, our understanding of the human is very broad. We see the human as obviously the biological process—and we do learn about physiology and all that typical bio stuff—but we also have an extreme focus, right from our very first year, on the social determinants of health, so aspects beyond one's personal health that impact their health. We're talking about transportation, housing and addiction.
In regard to the second question, about who else can be involved, I think it would be valuable to get NP-run clinics involved, as well as social workers, and get a whole integrated system of health to support everyone.