Additional Federal Funding to Support Indigenous Communities’ COVID-19 Response
During a news conference on Parliament Hill, Indigenous Services Minister Marc Miller provides an update on the federal government’s response to the COVID-19 (coronavirus disease) pandemic, focusing on its impact on Indigenous communities in Canada and on vaccine distribution in these communities. He is joined by Valerie Gideon (Senior Assistant Deputy Minister, First Nations and Inuit Health Branch, Indigenous Services Canada) and Dr. Tom Wong (Chief Medical Officer of Public Health, Indigenous Services Canada). Minister Miller announces an additional $1.2 billion in funding to support the public-health response to COVID-19 in Indigenous communities. The federal government is also injecting $380 million into the Indigenous Community Support Fund. (January 13, 2021)
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This time of year, with the temperature plunging below -20 C, a snowmobile and an ice chisel are required tools for anyone in Tataskweyak Cree Nation in need of fresh water.
There’s the bottled stuff, trucked into town courtesy of the federal government, but the weekly shipment of 1,500 cases is only sufficient to meet basic consumption needs. For cleaning, cooking and basic hygiene water, many residents need a supplementary source. And rather than use their tainted tap water, they follow a snowmobile trail several kilometres to Assean Lake, pails in hand.
Quebec s fourth priority group in its preliminary vaccination plan consists of isolated and remote communities. While that does include many Indigenous communities, Whiteduck said there s been no information as to where a community like Kitigan Zibi fits in. There s no transparency around this. Sadly, it s going to affect and it s going to probably kill some First Nations people. And that s what I don t want, he said. Maybe the feds need to take control of it and administer for First Nations here on out because Quebec is obviously not doing an adequate job in handling this.
Working in collaboration
Quebec s Ministry of Health and Social Services (MSSS) said it is working in collaboration with Indigenous partners and Indigenous Services Canada to plan a vaccination operation in the Indigenous communities.