Feds pledge action on relocations, treatment of Inuit tuberculosis epidemic

The hard part begins now, said Natan Obed, the president of Canada’s national Inuit organization.

“We’re going to come together with senior officials that are going to decide how to craft action on things like land claim implementation, on health issues —whether it is suicide prevention or tuberculosis — housing and infrastructure or language and culture.”

Indigenous Affairs Minister Carolyn Bennett, Health Minister Jane Philpott and Social Development Minister Jean-Yves Duclos were also part of Thursday’s discussions about severe housing and health challenges in the North.

Indigenous people continue to face serious health challenges, including high rates of chronic and contagious diseases and shorter life expectancies, Health Canada data suggest.

Tuberculosis infection rates are about 50 times higher among the Inuit population compared to the general population, the department said last year.

Trudeau also met Thursday with Nunavut’s premier, Peter Taptuna, and made an impromptu visit to a local women’s shelter to drop off goods.

In the evening, the prime minister attended a community gathering at a high school attended by dozens of people, including a number of territorial and federal employees.

During the event, Trudeau was confronted by 34-year-old Zoya Martin — a biologist in the public service who is on maternity leave to care for her eight-month-old son, Parker.

She demanded to know more about what the government was doing about the problem-plagued Phoenix payroll system, which resulted in more than 82,000 government workers being underpaid, overpaid or not paid at all.

The backlog has been pared down to fewer than 7,000 files, although dealing with them has significantly slowed the processing of new payroll changes that have been filed over the last few months.

Trudeau seems genuinely frustrated by the problem, Martin said. The issue is “unacceptable” and the government is working on the matter, the prime minister said.

Bethany Scott also attended the event and held up a sign complaining about the government’s decision to abandon its campaign promise on electoral reform — something she described as a “betrayal.”

—Follow @kkirkup on Twitter

Kristy Kirkup, The Canadian Press

by Canadian Press

Feds pledge action on relocations, treatment of Inuit tuberculosis epidemic

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