QUESTION PERIOD — Crown-Indigenous Relations
Indigenous Health Services
May 5, 2021
Honourable senators, my question is for the Government Representative.
Five years ago this week, Fort McMurray and the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo were engulfed by a wildfire that caused the evacuation of the whole city. All Canada rallied to help them.
Today, the municipality is facing another state of emergency. It has the highest COVID-19 infection rate in all of Canada and in all North America, with more than 1,866 cases per 100,000 residents. The region has only one hospital. Every ICU bed is taken, and they have created makeshift ones to deal with the overflow. Almost 40% of the hospital’s total beds are now taken up with COVID patients.
In addition to Fort McMurray, the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo encompasses 11 separate First Nations and Métis Nations. Chief Allan Adam is chief of the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation and president of the Athabasca Tribal Council. On behalf of the Athabasca Tribal Council, he has asked your government to send federal military assistance, such as a staffed mobile field hospital or public health teams to run 24-7 vaccination clinics to accommodate the region’s many shift workers.
As an Alberta senator, believe me, I realize just how politically sensitive such a move might be. I know there are no easy answers, but your government is responsible for First Nations health care and for the safety of Indigenous people living on reserve. Can you please tell me and the people of Wood Buffalo if, when or how your government might provide a field hospital or other consequential assistance in this time of crisis?
Thank you for your question and for raising this important issue for that community.
From the start of the pandemic, the federal government has worked with the provinces and territories to support their health care systems. Those are the interlocutors with whom the government deals. I’ve been advised that, at least to date, Alberta has not required such federal assistance. If any province or territory does require specific assistance, as Ontario has done recently, the Government of Canada will seriously examine the request and figure out how to best provide assistance.
As I understand, the federal government has not received a formal request for assistance from the Government of Alberta, but the First Nations communities of Wood Buffalo are appealing to you directly, based on the relationship First Nations have with the federal government for Indigenous health care. If there is no formal request from the Province of Alberta, is there any point at which your government would step in during this very particular regional crisis?
Thank you, senator. I would have to make inquiries and report back to the chamber.
Thank you very much.
