QUEEN'S PARK — Ontario Health Minister Christine Elliott says she will contact her federal counterpart to discuss the need for better coordination of health services on remote northern First Nations.
Elliott was responding in the legislature Tuesday to questions posed by Sol Mamakwa, the NDP member for Kiiwetinoong in northwestern Ontario.
Mamakwa had called on the Ford government to provide funding for communities facing a shortage of medical resources, safe health care infrastructure and health professionals.
"First Nations communities in my riding have been denied access to adequate health care for far too long...It's costing too many lives and causing too many people to suffer...Will this government commit to fully funding the First Nations Health Transformation?", Mamakwa asked.
He was referring to an agreement the previous government under Kathleen Wynne signed last year with Nishnawbe Aski Nation and the federal government, aimed at supporting First Nations-driven health systems.
Then-health minister Eric Hoskins described it as a historic step toward transforming Indigenous health care so that priorities and solutions are community-led.
Elliott said in reply that the issue of inadequate health care in remote communities is "a very serious issue...I recognize that there are serious problems...this is a priority for me...there are inequities."
Mamakwa then raised the cases of children who have died from strep throat infections "that would have been cured anywhere else," adding that he hears every day from families "who cannot get the urgent health care they need."
Elliott said she was aware that a child died a few years ago in Sandy Lake because basic antibiotics weren't available at the local nursing station, and that other communities have similar situations.
The minister said part of the problem is shared jurisdiction between the federal and Ontario governments, but added that many other issues need to be solved "so that we don't lose children. That would not happen in other parts of Ontario, I agree with you. Much more needs to be done," she told Mamakwa.
Elliott said she looked forward to working with him on solutions, but did not respond directly to his question as to whether the government will "guarantee that every dollar that's been committed to First Nations health care, will be delivered" to First Nation communities.
According to Mamakwa, in Sandy Lake "the nursing station model is not working anymore to serve more than 3,000 people, and local residents are trying to fill the gaps because there aren't enough medical professionals."
