Qujannamiik, Madam Chair.
Ulaakut, members of Parliament, Chair, Co-Chair, guests and staff.
My name is Anita Pokiak, and I'm pleased to be here with you today on behalf of our president, Rebecca Kudloo. I am a member of Pauktuutit Inuit Women of Canada's board of directors from Tuktoyaktuk, Northwest Territories, representing the western Arctic. Pauktuutit Inuit Women of Canada, incorporated in 1984, is the national representative organization of Inuit women.
Our homeland is important to our culture, our way of life. Our population is approximately 65,000, and we mainly live in 51 communities across Inuit Nunangat. Most of our communities are small, isolated and only accessible by plane. Our elders have always played and continue to play an important role demonstrating leadership through their wisdom and knowledge. They are the keepers of our tradition, heritage, culture and language. In our culture, both men and women are recognized as elders.
We must remember that, before the 1940s, we lived out on the land. Beginning in the 1950s, we were forced to permanent settlements with promises of education, health care and housing. By 1970, those born on the land had witnessed the creation of permanent settlements without adequate conditions to ensure our well-being. Our communities continue to face a large gap due to the Government of Canada's ongoing underinvestments. We do not share the same standards of living or access to health and social services, food, housing, employment, education or socio-economic development as most other Canadians. These conditions have a distinct negative impact on our elderly and can lead to circumstances for elder abuse.
For example, because of the severe shortage of housing, extended family often have to rely on elders for housing or other financial assistance. Elders are often the leaseholders of social housing units. They can be taken advantage of by other family members who moved in and cannot contribute to household costs, including rent.
For elders, a home should be a safe environment. Living in the crowded conditions such as three families in a two-bedroom home creates significant stress for all family members. It puts everyone at risk for poor nutrition, disease and family violence, including elder abuse. It can also make it difficult for elders to receive home care services. Social housing policies prohibit retrofitting any accommodation such as ramps to suit wheelchairs.
For elders in the communities with a safe shelter, the few existing services might not be appropriate for older women. Shelters are only intended for short-term stays. When elder women need somewhere to stay long term, there is no second-stage housing available in the Inuit Nunangat.
Inuit who face the highest vulnerability to food insecurity are single mothers and elders who often rely on pension income. Even with access to social assistance, because of the extremely expensive cost of food in the north, many elders can not buy healthy food and simply struggle to have enough to eat.
There are not enough trained Inuit home care service workers to assist our elders. The need to travel for most health care services affects the quality of life for elders and their families. Communities with limited health care services may not have access to the medical technology, equipment and supplies required to meet their needs. The lack of culturally appropriate and safe palliative care in communities is a large gap.
In Nunavut, there are 25 communities with only 44 long-term beds spread between Igloolik, Gjoa Haven, Cambridge Bay, Iqaluit and Arviat. The wait-list is nearly three years.
There are no facilities in Inuit Nunangat for dementia care. As a result, elders are routinely being sent to residential care facilities thousands of kilometres away. Here in Ottawa, there are around 30 Nunavummiut elders at Embassy West Senior Living. In my region, because of the lack of long-term care facilities, our elders are being sent to facilities in Inuvik and Yellowknife, which often have long wait-lists. We should not have to send our elders out of our communities or down south for specialized care. Saying that it is challenging and expensive to provide care for Inuit Nunangat is not an excuse.
Many of our elders who are being sent out of Inuit Nunangat to the south for care are the same elders who experienced colonization and residential schools first-hand, only this time they are being sent away and will never return. First they took our children and now they are taking our elders. Our families and communities are losing our elders. They should not be removed from their families, traditional foods, language, culture and environment. In another 50 years, will there be another payout and an apology for this? This is not reconciliation.
Inuit women are the main providers of care for family members, including elders. The federal government must take leadership in consultation with Inuit women to develop a solution to provide for dignity and better quality of life for our elders. This requires a dual investment, both in facilities that incorporate our way of life and in building capacity within our own communities so that we can take of our elders.
Thank you for listening.
Qujannamiik.
