Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I'm Dr. Vollant. I'm a surgeon. I'm a physician. I'm also the counsellor for the Innu strategic unit for COVID-19. I don't have time to talk to you, but what we want from the federal government is to have 500 to 1,000 tests, so it's possible to do our tests in our communities to

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  The COVID-19 crisis will last several more months. Our communities will have to face this danger, this epidemic, in the coming months. It's important to keep our people safe. We need to continue with messaging that promotes healthy habits, such as washing and other instructions.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  We have psychosocial experts within the Innu nation unit. They confirm that there are more cases of psychological and social stress in our communities. Our communities were already vulnerable before the crisis; they are even more so now, during the pandemic, and will be even more

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  In terms of psychosocial needs, more money from the federal government would certainly be welcome. A lot of money has been spent throughout the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada. I find that the proportion spent on first nations peoples is far lower per capita compared to the Canadian

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  There will be a second wave, and even a third. That's certain. The question is when and how. If we look at past situations, for example the Spanish flu, we can expect the second wave to hit harder than the first. The Innu nation was fortunate to be spared. We took measures quickl

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Yes, I'm worried about delays in routine care. I'm a cancer specialist at Hôpital Notre-Dame. Because of the epidemic, many people in Quebec and in the communities are stuck waiting for their test results or treatment. There will be long-term consequences. This will translate to

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  A lot of people in the community work in psychosocial services, but we're seeing an increase in distress and addiction. We need more resources to help communities get their heads above water owing to all the psychosocial side effects of the pandemic. These people need more help.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Quebec's situation is different from the rest of Canada, because we have the most cases. Quebec has over 50,000 cases and 4,100 deaths. I'm a surgeon. In Montreal, we're operating at 25% capacity. People are suffering. My waiting list used to be months long, but now it's more tha

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Hello, Mr. Powlowski. I fully agree with you that indigenous communities have done well so far, but we're going to get hit by a second wave in just a few weeks or months. That's why I'm advising the Innu Nation to maintain its roadside checkpoints in order to reduce the influx o

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  This is a jurisdiction issue and has to do with the provincial government's ability to supply labs so they can detect COVID-19 cases. Getting swabs to do the tests was a huge problem because there's so much demand in Quebec. The pandemic hit the province hard, and everything was

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I'm going to answer that question because our medical team has looked at the issue of screening. We've calculated that it's about 3% of the indigenous population. That's 3% per village and 3% of all Innu communities. That adds up to 20,000 people, so that's 500 to 1,000 tests pe

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  It's less than 3%. We've had a very hard time getting tests.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  We don't have 3%. We might just have less than 1% of testing so far. It was probably due to the lack of testing in Quebec. We had so many problems in Montreal. There was a lack of testing outside of Montreal. Three per cent would be at least the number that we would like. It shou

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  We have asked people to continue their hand cleaning and physical distancing of two metres. Also, we have asked our people to wear a mask when they are going out in public spaces. The mask is, I think, key in the process.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  We don't have enough, but our communities are making masks for our population. It would be nice to have more funding to have more masks for our people.