Mr. Speaker, it pains me to once again ask the government about its commitment to health funding in my home province of Saskatchewan.
Five months ago, on World AIDS Day, I asked the government if it would declare a public health state of emergency in Saskatchewan, as our doctors have been calling for, for over a year. Saskatchewan has the highest rates of HIV in Canada, and 79% of those newly diagnosed are indigenous people. Instead of heeding the calls for action, the federal government has cut funding for some of the organizations that are doing the important work of education and prevention not just in cities like Saskatoon, but also in northern communities.
As the media have reported, two Saskatchewan organizations have been left in the dark about why their federal funding was cut for AIDS and HIV outreach work. AIDS Saskatoon provided services to central and northern Saskatchewan. Together, the two organizations provided services to a significant percentage of Saskatchewan. AIDS Saskatoon and All Nations Hope in Regina have had a combined total of $643,000 of federal funding cuts as of March 31, and they are not really sure why.
The government has not bothered to explain why it cut funding to one-third of all AIDS organizations. Given the growing number of HIV infections in Saskatchewan, these cuts are short-sighted and counterproductive. All Nations Hope had $350,000 cut in federal funding while AIDS Saskatoon had $293,000 cut in funding. The AIDS Saskatoon affiliated office has been in La Ronge for five years, and its executive director, Jason Mercredi, said it was heartbreaking to learn the federal funding would be pulled. “We're pretty choked we won't be able to continue some of those activities”, he said.
This is part of a wider series of cuts to HIV organizations across Canada. Thirty-three per cent of all AIDS service organizations across Canada have lost their federal funding. According to information released from the Government of Saskatchewan, the province's HIV rate of those newly diagnosed with HIV in 2016, 14.5 per 100,000 people, is two times higher than the national average. There were also 170 new cases in 2016, with 10 of those people living in the Mamawetan Churchill River health region, which included La Ronge. “We're in the middle of an HIV epidemic”, Mercredi has said.
As the federal government develops an updated national framework to guide Canada's response to HIV and other sexually transmitted blood-borne infections, one key thing is missing: a commitment to an adequately funded, made-in-Canada strategy. In fact, so far there has been no commitment even to simply reverse the chronic underfunding of the HIV response in Canada, now entering its 15th year. The funding erosion continues even as Canada has made international commitments to HIV treatment and prevention efforts with a view to achieving the global goal of ending AIDS in 2030. Canada's HIV response has clear gaps that need to be addressed urgently. Lives and public health are at risk.
It is time for the federal government to restore the diverted and lapsed resources that are so desperately needed. HIV is not over, especially in Saskatchewan. How can the government cut funding for such important work in the face of a worsening epidemic?