Trust. Integrity. Reputation.
Trust. Integrity. Reputation.
Top News - June - 2004
Volume 22 - Number 3
Region saves money while patients' needs go unmet
Tensions mount over C-19
Human rights complaint goes to tribunal
In defence of the Mohawks of Kanesatake - Editorial
Results needed from our leaders - Editorial
What role will the bureaucracy play? - Guest ColumnCheck out Ontario Birchbark
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Region saves money while patients' needs go unmet
Paul Barnsley, Windspeaker Staff Writer, Saskatoon, Sask.
In the same week that Grand Chief Chris McCormick of the Association of Iroquois and Allied Indians told the United Nations that First Nations health in Canada is in pitiful condition, a British Columbia chief told Windspeaker that money allotted to First Nations health concerns was not distributed in the last fiscal year.
"They sent money back this year and I'm really pissed off about that," said Sowalie First Nation Chief Doug Kelly on May 18. "Pacific region had a $2 million surplus on dental. They budget about $20 million and they only spent about $18 million. And a little bird who would know these things told me Health Canada nationally lapsed money."
In other words, millions of dollars set aside for healthcare for First Nations people was not spent, despite the desperate need.
Kelly and Assembly of First Nations (AFN) National Chief Phil Fontaine met with Ian Green, the deputy minister of Health Canada, on April 27. Kelly reports he told the department's top bureaucrat during the hour-long meeting how he felt about that situation.
"I brought up the fact that federal bureaucrats get their bonuses whether they earn them or not and I told Ian Green he should have been paying us. I told him I expect a much better performance," Kelly said. "What's happened here is a reason to cut the pay of government officials, not give them bonuses. They should be disciplined."
Federal officials receive what's called "at risk" pay of up to 25 per cent of their salaries each year. Although it's supposed to be an incentive that's earned for good performance, Conservative Party of Canada government spending watchdog John Reynolds has said that very few bureaucrats don't receive the extra pay.
Ottawa sources say Green issued an edict to the regional directors general at the beginning of the last fiscal year that no deficits would be allowed. Whereas in the past Health Canada headquarters kept some money in reserve in case of emergencies or unexpected over-runs, Green's order caused increased conservatism within the First Nation and Inuit Health Branch [FNIHB] of the department.
Kelly said he has uncovered two major problems with the provision of health care by the federal bureaucracy.
"The program is underfunded. And there are winners and losers in the way Ottawa allocates the money," he said.
A Native person's chances of receiving approval for expensive orthodontic care depends on which bureaucrat that person deals with.
"It seems there's an angel who approves orthodontic care if there's a legitimate need, and a devil. If you get the latter, no matter how bad off you are, you won't get it," he said. "There should only be one standard."
The Stolo Nation chief said it's obvious that the First Nations and Inuit Health Branch of Health Canada is severely underfunded.
"How do I know it's underfunded? It's broke every year. And there have been cuts every year and they're cutting into the bone. There may have been some fat there at one point, but it's long gone. Very clearly there's a problem there," he said.
Cuts to non-insured health benefits have been steady for the last number of years. Levels of dental care have been lowered and generic drugs are covered while more expensive drugs are not. Few areas have escaped funding cuts of one sort or another. Some programs have seen their funding levels frozen since 1996 even though the Native population is the youngest and fastest-growing in Canada.
Kelly said the underfunding makes it difficult for bureaucrats to cope.
Chris McCormick sees the same thing. In Ontario, the FNIHB is $9.7 million in the red with a forecasted deficit for 2004-2005 of $11 million.
Al Garman, the regional director general [RDG], announced cuts to a variety of programs to make up that deficit.
Some of the cuts were announced, McCormick said, but the funding was reinstated when the chiefs scheduled a press conference to express their outrage.
McCormick told the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues that Canada may rank 8th on the human development index but First Nations rank 63rd.
"We are essentially a Third World society living in one of the top 10 countries in the world," he said. He told the international body that First Nations people have a suicide rate that is five to eight times higher than Canadian averages, five times more diabetes, 10 to 12 times as many communicable diseases and an infant mortality rate that is one-and-a-half times as great as Canadian norms. He said poor housing, poor water and sewage systems and the harm created by the residential school system are among the reasons why Native people are not as well off as Canadians in general. He also told the permanent forum about the cuts that were announced to programs aimed at improving the health of children and then withdrawn. McCormick quoted from a letter written by the Ontario RDG.
"[E]ven though children's programs will be reinstated, this does not relieve the obligation to find a way to balance planned expenditures to the budget available."
Then continuing with his own remarks, McCormick said "This falls on the heels of program funding cuts to balance a deficit of approximately $9.7 million for the previous year. This is an example of the Canadian government's agenda. Cost containment, not improved health for First Nations."
McCormick, in a letter to Health Minister Pierre Pettigrew that was obtained by Windspeaker, questioned whether bureaucrats have the right to pay down deficits with program dollars.
"As we understand, Treasury Board allocates specific resources for specific program areas for [FNIHB]. As First Nations, we are constantly reminded by FNIHB staff that we [must] use resources for the exact purposes they are allocated for," he wrote. "If we do not, we are then considered in breach of our contribution agreement and these resources will then be recovered by Health Canada. If we as First Nations must follow stringent guidelines when spending funding, why then does the Canadian government, more specifically Health Canada [FNIHB], not have to follow these guidelines?"
Problems in health seem to exist in every region. Manitoba's Sandy Bay First Nation Chief Irvin McIvor said it's a problem that must be confronted immediately.
"Health is a very, very serious issue and it's not being addressed. Health has to go to the national level and we have to fight and we have to fight now," he said.
He told Windspeaker that only two dentists are accepting non-insured claims in Winnipeg, a city with perhaps the highest number of Native people in Canada.
"And there's 64 First Nations in Manitoba. How are these two dentists going to address the concerns of 64 First Nations? It's ludicrous how this government looks at First Nations. It's becoming more and more evident every day," he said.
One of the greatest scourges afflicting Indigenous peoples in Canada is given only token attention, he said.
"I think they gave us $5,000 last year to fight diabetes and it's ridiculous. It's hardly enough for one patient," he said.
AFN health technicians are excited about a remark made by the health minister at a health policy summit held in Toronto on April 19 and 20. Pettigrew was the keynote speaker on the second day.
In his speech, Pettigrew stated, "We have a profound duty to improve the health status of Aboriginal people. That is one of the reasons why the prime minister hosted a [Canada-Aboriginal roundtable] on Aboriginal issues yesterday...We know we must do more to achieve better outcomes for Aboriginal men, women and children."
AFN health renewal policy analyst Cynthia Stirbys then asked him, "In your address, you mention involving new partners. Mr. Minister, can you then outline how you see First Nations people and First Nations leaders involved in achieving better outcomes in health status?"
Pettigrew answered, "It is a good question and a timely one because of the [roundtable] held in Ottawa yesterday. The government has a fiduciary responsibility [to Aboriginals], as you know."
The minister also mentioned he toured the country in January and was able to see first hand the special challenges in Aboriginal communities.
Nice words, said Kelly, but they do not reflect the actions of officials in the minister's department.
"The government of Canada seems to hear it when the provinces get up and raise hell about health funding but there's this refusal to hear when First Nations say FNIHB is underfunded," he said. "I've been telling them the funding has to be needs based. All I've been saying seems to be falling on deaf ears."
He said the word is going to have to filter down through the bureaucracy if Native people are going to believe all the promises made by the prime minister in recent months.
"I hear the Right Honorable Prime Minister Paul Martin tell me and all the other First Nation citizens he wants to make a difference, and I believe him. The problem we've got is the people he's got working for him aren't listening," Kelly said.
He said Pettigrew has not been an active and effective minister.
"He's been ducking me. I'm hopeful the Liberals get a majority government and that the prime minister will then give the job to somebody who wants it."
Kelly believes Pettigrew's other responsibility as intergovernmental affairs minister is receiving most of the minister's attention.
Kelly was outraged to learn that two senior Health Canada officials, Assistant Deputy Minister Ian Potter and Pacific Region RDG Dr. Jay Wortman, attended health conferences in Australia and New Zealand recently.
"They can find the money to send two people on this trip but they can't find money to treat Native kids and adults who sorely need it," he said. "They should all be at home manning their posts."
He noted that B.C.'s provincial health minister was actively lobbying for increases in health funding and suggested FNIHB officials should be doing the same thing instead of looking for ways to limit spending.
"It's pay now or pay later, you know," he said. "We all know that what you spend today you save later."Paul Barnsley, Windspeaker Staff Writer, Saskatoon
Six Nations of the Grand River band councillor Dave General admited he travelled to Saskatchewan to make a few waves. Little did he know he would be caught in a riptide of conflicting currents.
It was late in the afternoon of May 19, the second day in the three-day Assembly of First Nations Confederacy. Indian Affairs Minister Andy Mitchell had just addressed the chiefs. National Chief Phil Fontaine spoke to the minister from the main podium. He said he personally supported C-19 [the financial institutions legislation now renamed C-23], but because of a resolution of the assembly not to support it "I haven't been able to express my support in a way that reassures the people that believe in it. These good, honorable people who have worked very, very hard. They see this legislation as a way out for their communities."
He said that if an election was to be called for June 28, every piece of legislation on the order paper would die, including C-19.
"I would hope that we can find a way out of this. I would hope that we could arrive at a place where all of the views could receive some comfort that their needs are being considered," Fontaine said.
General was one of the many First Nations leaders who lobbied aggressively against the suite of governance legislation that included the financial institutions legislation. He appeared very angry when Fontaine was making his remarks to the minister.
General, who was entitled to speak to the assembly because he held the proxy for the Similkameen First Nation in British Columbia, did not take long before he made his feelings known. "I'll be blunt national chief, I was disgusted to see you groveling before this confederacy."
General had told Windspeaker moments earlier that he found it "Disgusting that the national chief was groveling before this assembly for the life of C-23, claiming that it would represent significant work for a large number of First Nations when it doesn't... I don't mind the national chief, when he's lobbying inside the office and I don't think he minds us being in the galleries and in the committee rooms and seeing the senators and the members in their offices, but groveling before a national assembly is absolutely disgusting," he said. "I think everybody was in such shock that nobody stood up and said BS."
General repeated those comments to the assembly.
Fontaine, clearly furious, moved the microphone at the head table.
"That deserves a response," he said. "I have never, ever in my life groveled anywhere. This is something I strongly believe in. I don't appreciate your language. It's petty and immature on your part."
Several minutes passed as the assembled chiefs and delegates processed the unexpected rise in intensity. Suddenly, the entire British Columbia section was standing silently. Herbert Morven, representative of Nisga'a President Joseph Gosnell, solemnly moved to the front of the room. He spoke in his Native language first with great emotion, almost tearful. He apologized for the words of the "proxy of B.C." to the host province and to the national chief for using "words that do not bring unity."
"At home, if this happened, a chieftain would bring Mr. General to you and ask you to take his hand," he said. He walked to the centre of the circle and invited General to shake hands with Fontaine. The Six Nations councillor representing a B.C. First Nation raised his hands and remained in his chair. "With all due respect, no," he said.
"But he's not prepared, so I will," Morden said, shaking Fontaine's hand.
Many other chiefs joined the B.C. delegation as they stood silently watching the Nisga'a Elder. Several chiefs, including a couple from Ontario, rebuked General. Only Chief Harold Sault of Red Rock First Nation suggested that Fontaine was wrong to have spoken out in favor of the bill.
At the end of the day, Elders Billy Two Rivers and Fred Kelly dealt with the bad feelings left in the room with a smudging ceremony.
"The words of anger have been buried beneath the tree of peace," said Two Rivers at its conclusion. "Peace, love and harmony have been restored and our house has been cleansed."
Before General's criticism of Fontaine, the national chief was asked by Windspeaker if he was pleading for continued life for the financial institutions legislation.
"No, what I said was that there are chiefs, officials and others that have worked long and hard to secure C-19 or C-23. For those people, and there are a good number of them, the election that will be called momentarily will mean that C-23 will die on the order paper. There'll be a lot of disappointed people. The other thing I talked about is that it's been highly divisive, highly controversial and that's not good because it isn't something that we designed to divide our community. It was designed in such a way that the interests of all of our people was represented. So we have to find a way of ensuring that the interests of those people that believe in this will be respected."
TopHuman rights complaint goes to tribunal
Paul Barnsley, Windspeaker Staff Writer, Saskatoon
Jim Pankiw will soon have to explain his actions to the Canadian Human Rights Commission.
The decision came down in late April that the commission's tribunal will hear John Melenchuk's complaint against the independent Member of Parliament for Saskatoon-Humboldt.
The former Canadian Alliance MP who was not welcomed back into the Alliance party (now Conservative Party of Canada) after Stephen Harper replaced Stockwell Day as leader, has been sitting as an independent for more than a year. He has used his MP's budget to produce pamphlets that refer to "Indian criminals." He argues that Native people make up a disproportionate percentage of inmates in correctional institutions simply because they commit more crimes.
Melenchuk, a Métis man who is well known in Saskatoon as a Native rights activist, filed his complaint with the human rights commission after Pankiw's first mail out appeared. Nine months later, after unsuccessfully attempting to get Pankiw and Melenchuk to sit down with an arbitrator to work out their differences, the commission decided the matter would have to be dealt with by a human rights tribunal.
While Pankiw has not responded to inquiries from the Native media, he appeared live on a local radio talk show in Saskatoon in mid-May. On that show, Pankiw said he was being attacked and unfairly singled out by Aboriginal people for holding politically incorrect views.
Then he was attacked on-air by a non-Aboriginal caller who identified himself as Wayne from Saskatoon.
"Mr. Pankiw, as a businessman who's run businesses in Manitoba and Saskatchewan for over 40 years and paid taxes and watched a piece of property in Winnipeg drop from $150,000 to $25,000 because of the Native youth gangs, I would much rather my taxes be spent to give young Native people $5, 10, 15, even $20,000 a year to go to counselling or go to university and get an education and become productive citizens than put them in jail where it costs $65,000 a year to keep a young man in jail and $110,000 a year to keep a young woman in jail where they're trained to be criminals," he told the MP.
"You want to deny the treaty rights. You want to deny common sense. You have absolutely no common sense and I am insulted by you every time I hear you and by the fact that my taxes pay you $135,000 or $150,000 to spout this bull****. You have no common sense and the people who vote for you have no common sense. We need to help to educate Native people to get them off the street, out of jails and help them to become productive citizens. And it's your kind of stupidity that's stopped that. You are a racist and you are an idiot and I don't want to pay your bloody salary anymore. You have no right to spout this racist garbage."
Pankiw said he would not "lower himself to that level" when asked to respond to the caller.
"It's just an attempt to intimidate or silence anybody from speaking out and saying the things I'm saying," he said.
He was asked what he was doing as an MP to address the social ills that Native people are experiencing.
"The way you do that is to integrate Indian people into society. You allow them to be full and equal participants. You remove government policies that segregate them and keep them isolated," Pankiw said.
Pankiw has come under fire from other corners in recent weeks. In May, the National Associations Active in Criminal Justice released a letter its members had sent to Pankiw on March 19.
The organization cited a question Pankiw asked in the House of Commons on March 10.
"Mr. Speaker, government statistics reveal that Indians make up a disproportionate number of prison inmates because they commit a disproportionate amount of crime. In Saskatoon their crime rate is more than 10 times that of non-Indians. To make matters worse, the Criminal Code orders judges to give lenient sentences to Indian criminals. Just like [prime minister Jean] Chrétien's regime, the government is also im Mahaffy, president of the group, then wrote the association's members were outraged by the question.
"Your question served to perpetuate the simplistic analysis, myths and stereotypes that the only reason Aboriginal people are over-represented in prison is because they commit proportionately more crime. Your question ignores the historically documented discriminatory treatment of Aboriginal people, including the Marshall Inquiry, the Cawsey Report, the Manitoba Justice Inquiry, the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples, the very recent report of the Canadian Human Rights Commission, as well as the many United Nations reports that chastise Canada for our disgraceful history of discrimination against First Nations peoples," the letter stated. "Your question portrays Aboriginal peoples as committing a disproportionate amount of crime and suggests that the numbers of 'Indian' inmates in Canadian penal institutions supports this characterization. Your suggestion that the Canadian government supports a 'racist two-tier sentencing scheme that gives Indian criminals a get out of jail card' distorts the truth and advances racial prejudice."
The group, whose members include the Association des Services de Réhabilitation Social du Québec, the Canadian Association for Community Living, the Canadian Association of Elizabeth Fry Societies, the Canadian Association of Sexual Assault Centres, the John Howard Society of Canada, the Canadian Training Institute, Native Counseling Services of Alberta, St. Leonard's Society of Canada, the Salvation Army, the Seventh Step Society of Canada, the Canadian Families and Corrections Network and the Canadian Psychological Association, told Pankiw he should apologize to all Canadians for his remarks.
"Your remarks blame a few prisoners while simultaneously ignoring entirely the social conditions that give rise to crime. The pattern of cultural dislocation has been repeated around the world with Aboriginal cultures who have had their homeland taken and their culture and populations devastated by conquest and usurpation of resources. Recognition is growing globally that it is necessary for dominant cultures to understand the destructive impacts of their own development and to abandon self centered approaches to future social and economic development," Mahaffy wrote. "All Canadians, and Aboriginal people in particular, deserve an apology from you for your statements."
