Nickel Belt News Volume 61 • Issue 14
Friday, April 9, 2021
Thompson, Manitoba
Serving the Norman Region since 1961
MKO, NRHA commit to working together to eliminate anti-Indigenous racism in northern health care system BY IAN GRAHAM
EDITOR@THOMPSONCITIZEN.NET
Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak (MKO) and the Northern Regional Health Authority (NRHA) are working in partnership to eliminate anti-Indigenous racism in northern health care. MKO Grand Chief Garrison Settee and NRHA CEO Helga Bryant met March 22 in recognition of United Nations International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination to begin discussions and formalize both organizations’ commitment to ridding the health care system in Northern Manitoba of anti-Indigenous racism.
“Ongoing racism in health care has become a pressing concern here in this pandemic and many Indigenous people have faced racism trying to access health care,” said Settee in an online press conference March 30, noting that COVID-19 precautions sometimes prevented Indigenous patients from having an advocate escort them to medical appointments, though he said the goal is a system in which the need for an advocate doesn’t exist. “I think our people deserve a better north than they have today.” About 70 per cent of Northern Manitobans are Indigenous and the NRHA
says it is committed to providing an environment in which Indigenous people have trust and feel that they are being heard. “A lack of that kind of environment is a detriment to health outcomes and to relationships and we know that we need to do much better in that regard,” said Bryant. Dr. Barry Lavallee, CEO of MKO’s health organization Keewatinohk Inniniw Minoayawin (KIM), said anti-Indigenous racism in the health care system can and has led to deaths. “When racism is embedded within the health care system, First Nations people in the north or Métis people
perhaps can go to the health care system and not have their chest pain treated,” he said, adding that eliminating anti-Indigenous racism in health care improves the system for Indigenous and non-Indigenous people. “There’s a benefit to addressing racism for all of us.” NRHA chief Indigenous health officer Charlene Lafreniere said reading complaints about service from Indigenous people is difficult but necessary. “It is so heavy but more importantly it’s motivation and urgency to step away from status quo and make some real changes,” she said.
Anyone with a complaint about their experiences in the health care system can call 1-888-340-6742 to talk about them, email their concerns to paitientexperience@nrha.ca or mail them to Box 340, Flin Flon, Manitoba, R8A 1N2. “They get addressed, they get investigated and they
also get noted for long-term strategy, what needs to happen,” said Lafreniere. “We need to hear your stories and we need to understand.” KIM plans to develop an office this year designed to deal specifically with Indigenous people’s experiences with racism when seeking medical care.
Concern grows as polar bear tourism expands BY SARAH LAWRYNUIK
LOCAL JOURNALISM INITIATIVE REPORTER, WINNIPEG FREE PRESS
The expansion of Churchill’s polar bear tourism industry needs to be undertaken with caution, researchers warn, as Manitoba issued new tourism permits for a protected area east of the town for the first time in decades. The Churchill Wildlife Management Area was established in 1978, and was created with the intention of protecting polar bear denning areas, as well as geese and caribou. "The concern is that the dynamics in this population are changing. There are fewer bears in the population over time. It used to be 1,200 bears back in the 1980s. And now we're down around 800. It's a population that is being challenged by changing climate," said longtime researcher Andrew Derocher. In order to access this area, tourism operators need to have their heavy-duty vehicles permitted by the province; but there was a cap of 18 permits. Twelve are held by Frontiers North Adventures, six by Great White North Tours. Other outfits have operated in the Churchill region, but the protected area was off-limits. Without any announcement or community consultation, the province has changed tack and issued new permits to a third operator, Lazy Bear Expeditions. The owner of Lazy Bear
Expeditions and Lodge is Wally Daudrich, a former federal Conservative candidate who raised eyebrows in the 2011 election, after making inflammatory remarks about U.S. president Barack Obama and local MP Niki Ashton. Daudrich did not respond to a Winnipeg Free Press interview request. Great White North Tours began contesting the possible issuance of new permits in the Churchill Wildlife Management Area in court in March 2020, but the judicial review has been adjourned with no future hearing date set. A spokesperson for the Department of Agriculture, which handles the issue of polar bear conservation, said they would not comment on the specific permits being issued, but that the provincial government is committed to a sustainable eco-tourism industry in Churchill. Agriculture Minister Blaine Pedersen was not made available for an interview. The lack of transparency from the government has caused confusion about what is happening with permits and what the province’s future plans are for the protected area, and polar bear conservation itself. "What I heard was that they were going to offer a few licences, and then there was some pushback from some of the operators. And then (the province) just said: ‘Well, then we'll give out even more permits.’ In
Nickel Belt News file photo New heavy-duty vehicle permits for wildlife tourism in a protected area east of Churchill were recently issued by the province for the first time in decades. a nutshell. That's what I heard," Derocher said. His concern about the impact on bears pushed him to write a letter of concern to multiple government officials, as well as community stakeholders. "Increasing the number of tundra vehicles is a change to the existing situation and for a population of polar bears in decline, and under increasing pressure from climate change, a precautionary approach is
advisable," the letter reads. Derocher points out as a signatory to the 1973 Agreement on the Conservation of Polar Bears, Canadian jurisdictions are mandated to pursue sound conservation practices. In 2015, an independent review was conducted of the Churchill Wildlife Management Area to try and determine the tourism carrying capacity of the protected zone. Researchers came back with three
key recommendations for the province. Among them: further research to address knowledge gaps in the understanding of how tourism operators use the area, and how that use impacts bears. Another was to try and resolve conflicts between different operators in the area, which has not occurred. Many interview requests were declined April 1, as the potential for weighing
in on the contentious subject kept people from voicing their thoughts. The third recommendation was to adjust policies to prepare the Northern Manitoba town and its tourism industry for a warmer world. "Churchill has undergone and will continue to undergo unavoidable changes in the environment over the coming decades, largely as a result of climate change," the report reads.