Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I think the biggest thing I hear about right now is surge capacity. Our nurses, especially on the front line, are burning out. Not only is it the FNHA nurses, but it is also the staff in the community who are trying to deal with, not only the COVID emergency, but the health needs of the community generally.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Mr. Alsop.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  To whom is that directed?

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I think it's important to hear from the community level, but I will say that the money that has come to the First Nations Health Authority has been utilized in terms of our virtual support, in terms of our ability to provide traditional support to individuals through FNHA, but I think the important piece is the transfer of those funds to the community.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  The First Nations Health Authority does not have any long-term care facilities that we manage directly, but there are some of our communities that have elders lodges or other facilities. So far, we have been very lucky, in that we haven't identified any cases in any of those facilities, but there's certainly a high degree of caution and care.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  It's been a lot of work. I think the thing that's different about what's happened in B.C. is that we are, in many ways, considered the seventh health authority in the province. That allows me to sit at tables with the other chief medical officers of the region and with Dr. Bonnie Henry.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Thank you for the question. Things have changed. In our work with our provincial partners, we have a goal of 24-hour turnaround for any testing that occurs within the provincial context, regional health authorities especially. All of our nurses have been trained to gather samples.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Thank you very much. I'm honoured to be asked to present to you. I come to you today from Tsawout First Nation, where I live as a guest. I'm originally from Manitoba, am Métis and Anishinabe, and work for the First Nations Health Authority, which means that I work for the nations of B.C.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Yes. It's a legislative gap, provincially. Enforcing action under the Public Health Act is not something that police are required to do or are mandated to do. As Richard said, in many places, bylaw officers, or even environmental health officers, end up being the enforcers of those needs.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Thank you, Ms. Bérubé. Communities have had pandemic plans for some time. Since H1N1, communities, as part of their contribution agreements, were expected to have a plan to respond to a communicable disease emergency. Unfortunately, because there hasn't been urgency over the last few years, that was often not followed up on and communities were found with an empty basket.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Thank you, Richard. I think what we have to recognize in any discussion about issues with women and children and family violence is that these didn't start with COVID-19. Many of the circumstances, the social determinants of health—issues of poverty, problematic substance use, lack of opportunity—have all gathered together, and just as the rest of the country is coming to the point of experiencing things like isolation and lack of services and financial challenges, those are situations that our communities have been experiencing for a long time.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Thanks, Richard. We've been really lucky in our relationship with the provincial health officer in being a full participant in the B.C. response to COVID. Our province is sitting at 2,467 cases, as of yesterday, and 149 deaths. For first nations in B.C., the story is actually better.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Again, in B.C., there are more than 30 languages. It's a big piece of work and it's not just ours. It's education. It's social welfare. It's all of those pieces. They have to come together to do that work.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  We'd have to pull pieces from a whole bunch of things. Some of it lives in primary care, some of it is direct service, and some of it is in these project pieces of work, so I don't know that I could land on a particular number. With direct service delivery, I would probably say close to 30% to 40%.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Yes, and it's still not enough.