Inaccurate, unfair for Sask. premier to single out northern First Nations on vaccination, say critics
Federal Indigenous Affairs Minister Marc Miller calls
Premier Scott Moe's comments "alarming and
unproductive"
Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe is wrong to single out northern First Nations for low COVID-19 vaccination rates, say critics.
They say Moe's comments, which were made on Tuesday and then posted to social media Thursday—as well as similar to statements he made last week—are both unfair and inaccurate.
Federal Indigenous Affairs Minister Marc Miller called Moe's comments "alarming and unproductive." In an online reply, Miller said Moe has a "misunderstanding of his own health care system and the role it plays" in northern Saskatchewan.
Saskatchewan Opposition leader Ryan Meili said the premier is desperate to deflect blame for the province's rapidly deteriorating COVID-19 situation.
"This is gross, just dog-whistle politics, trying to blame one part of the province. He's trying to shift attention away from his own errors," Meili said Thursday.
"He should be apologizing for his inaction, which is resulting in people dying."
Record numbers of COVID-19 patients, most of them unvaccinated, are filling the province's hospitals and intensive care units. Elective procedures have been slowed down or paused altogether, but the surge in COVID-19 cases is also halting organ transplants as well as certain brain, heart and eye procedures.
On Thursday, Moe posted a video on social media saying Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was practising "divisiveness" by singling out Saskatchewan for its low vaccination rate.
Moe then went on to single out parts of Saskatchewan on the same issue.
"Our far north and Indigenous communities are running at a vaccination rate of less than 50 per cent — an area of exclusive federal jurisdiction," Moe tweeted. "I hope … [Trudeau] will work with Saskatchewan to increase the vaccination rate in these critical communities right away."
Some places only have 12% uptake
The premier also singled out northern First Nations during a news conference last week.
While it appears some non-First Nations communities have much lower vaccination rates than the provincial average, Moe didn't criticize those areas for their vaccination rates.
At a presentation to Swift Current city council last week, posted on social media, a delegation of local doctors talked about the low vaccine uptake in certain towns.
"In places in southwest Saskatchewan, we only have 12 per cent uptake of the vaccine. Twelve per cent. That's it. We need the numbers of immunizations to increase," Dr. Tara Lee told councillors.
As of Thursday, 81.4 per cent of eligible people province-wide had a first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 72.7 per cent had two, according to CBC's vaccine tracker.
That's currently the lowest rate in Canada.
'Southwest needs to ramp it up': physician
The Ministry of Health declined to provide vaccination rates for individual towns or cities in central and southern Saskatchewan. It is reported only by zone, which typically contains a mix of city, town and rural areas.
"We do not report by community," stated a Ministry of Health email.
Gull Lake family physician Dr. Clare Kozroski, who was part of the delegation that spoke in Swift Current, says the situation is urgent.
There are individual high schools in the region with student vaccination rates of just 20 per cent, she said in a Thursday interview.
"There is no other way to deal with this fourth wave. All of our beds in ICU in this area are full, so people with other illnesses can't be cared for. The southwest needs to ramp it up," said Kozroski, who also represents Saskatchewan on the board of the Canadian Medical Association.
'No idea why he'd be singling us out'
While Moe referred to the Far North as "an area of exclusive federal jurisdiction," Meili said the premier is either confused or is being dishonest. The northern jurisdiction is in fact a mix of First Nations, federal and provincial staff working together.
Longtime Lac la Ronge Indian Band Chief Tammy Cook-Searson agreed. She says her staff has worked closely with the Saskatchewan Health Authority and federal officials throughout the pandemic.
She said she saw Moe's social media posts and video and said while everyone in Saskatchewan should redouble vaccination efforts, the premier's comments are not helpful.
"I think it's very unfair, especially since non-First Nation communities in the south have lower [vaccination] rates," Cook-Searson said.
"I have no idea why he'd be singling us out. He can pick up the phone any time and call us. It's not fair to be blaming. We should find a way to work together and get past this pandemic."
Hatchet Lake Denesuline First Nation Chief Bart Tsannie said his community is working around the clock to help people get vaccinated. After suffering a severe outbreak in June, there is now only one active case in the community of 1,300 people.
"Don't target us. Come talk to us," Tsannie said.
Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations Chief Bobby Cameron said Moe should focus on keeping people safe rather than finding others to blame.
"It's not a respectful thing to do," Cameron said.
Author of the article:
The Canadian Press
Mickey Djuric
Sep 24, 2021 •
REGINA — Federal Indigenous Services Minister Marc Miller says Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe misunderstands his own health-care system.
Miller made the comment on Twitter after Moe blamed Ottawa for Saskatchewan’s low COVID-19 vaccination rate in its far north, which has a predominately Indigenous population.
“Our Far North and Indigenous communities are running at a vaccination rate of less than 50 per cent, an area of exclusive federal jurisdiction,” Moe tweeted Thursday after making similar comments earlier that week during a media scrum.
While mentioning rates in the north, the premier did not include communities in the south, which in some cases have vaccination rates as low as 12 per cent.
Miller said Moe’s comments are alarming and unproductive.
“Stating that all this work is ‘exclusive’ federal jurisdiction is not only inaccurate, but undermines the spirit of Indigenous self-determination that has guided our co-operative approach and must continue in order to overcome this current wave,” Miller tweeted. He did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Ottawa and Saskatchewan have worked together throughout the pandemic to provide vaccinations in the province’s far north and in remote Indigenous communities, but health-care services are off reserves, which is within provincial jurisdiction.
“The whole idea that First Nations in the north are outside of Saskatchewan jurisdiction — and by jurisdiction I mean their responsibility — is this myth that we are often told in Canadian politics that leads to the continuation of the inequity Indigenous Peoples have had for generations,” said Dr. Alika Lafontaine, president-elect of the Canadian Medical Association.
Lafontaine said Moe’s comments make it difficult for health-care workers to do their jobs.
“If you don’t have your leadership pointing to the tools we know work, and emphasizing the need to provide care and take responsibility for the care of everyone within your province, that creates a very challenging situation to actually create any of this effectively,” he said.
Indigenous communities face a unique challenge because of mistrust in a health-care system due to forced sterilization of Indigenous women and medical experimentation on children in residential schools, Lafontaine added.
Moe’s comments about jurisdiction don’t help increase vaccination rates, he said.
“You have to have your leader saying things that are factually true, and actually focus on the solutions of the problem, instead of pushing that responsibility somewhere else.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 24, 2021.
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