The Assembly of First Nations, the Canadian Nurses Association and the NDP Opposition are all calling on the federal government to take immediate action to address health care shortcomings in remote First Nations communities.
This follows the release of Canada’s auditor general’s report.
It found nurses in remote First Nations delivered services beyond their legal authority and most had not completed mandatory training.
The NDP’s Aboriginal Affairs critic Niki Ashton calls the report damning.
She says it is yet another example of how the Harper government is failing the Indigenous people of Canada.
“And it was disappointing to hear the federal government downplaying some disturbing findings and basically allude to the fact that they are doing enough when we know that is simply not the case”.
The Assembly of First Nations wants to open a dialogue with the federal government to develop an action plan to deal with the report’s findings, while the Canadian Nurses Association wants the federal government to adopt new strategies including targeted investments with key partners to meet their mandate for First Nation’s health care.
The report looked specifically at remote Aboriginal communities in Manitoba and Ontario.