By Jesse Johnson
SAULT STE. MARIE – It was a day full of laughs, lessons, and sombre stories, but more importantly, there was a renewed commitment to an improved health system for the Anishinabek Nation.
“There are so many issues right now that need collective strength. We should have had 39 Chiefs in the room today, but I’m glad we had a lot of Councillors attend. We can’t afford to waste time on this,” said Anishinabek Nation Commissioner on Governance Patrick Madahbee.
The Anishinabek Nation’s Chiefs Symposium on Health Transformation was held in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., with approximately 60 attendees in-person and 15 who attended virtually.
The event was opened by Mishomis Jack Trudeau, of Serpent River First Nation, and Ookomis Donna Debassige, of Wiikwemkoong Unceded Territory. Mishomis James Mishquart, of Biinjitiwaabik Zaaging Anishinaabek, also provided opening remarks.
Transformation on March 25 in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont.
Anishinabek Nation Grand Council Chief Linda Debassige shared remarks, speaking about Tom Bressette-baa and the big role he played in getting Health Transformation started. She also touched on the importance of unity for our communities and the broken health system that continuously fails our people.
“We cannot inherit a broken car and expect to drive that car down the road. We cannot simply sit back and say we’ll take on that responsibility in the same fashion it’s been delivered because we know that does not work. We know that our people have a difficult time accessing healthcare services,” states Grand Council Chief Debassige. “I see the opportunities with Health Transformation, but there are risks. There are risks in taking control of a system that wasn’t designed by us, but we are utilizing it. There’s a very serious risk of division. When we talk about the risks, our design is better off in the end because we can’t just assume that we’ll always be united. The whole design of colonized systems is to divide and conquer.”
Deputy Grand Council Chief Chris Plain welcomed attendees to the symposium and Lake Huron Regional Chief Scott McLeod encouraged Chiefs and citizens to vote in the upcoming election and to choose wisely.
The first speaker on the agenda was Doug Kelly, former chair of the B.C. First Nations Health Council, who spoke about his personal health stories and the importance of advocating for others.
“What’s our job? It’s to advocate for our people. When they’re not at home or when they need help from a system that is foreign to us, how do we look after them? You can’t call the health system in Canada a health system because it’s not. You have to be there, and you have to advocate. The abstinence model doesn’t work, you know that. We have to go to harm reduction. I know that because that’s where I was,” said Kelly.
Richard Jock, former CEO of B.C. First Nations Health Council, was one of the keynote speakers. His discussion focused on the lessons learned and the progress made with the B.C. First Nations Health Authority (FNHA).
The FNHA plans, designs, manages, delivers, and funds the delivery of health programs to over 200 diverse First Nations and citizens across B.C.
“What we have found in practise is that a lot of communities said this was a good idea, but we’re not quite ready to run it ourselves, so the FNHA was asked to serve as the interim operator. Our goal was to still have the primary care centres operated by communities, but we (FNHA) are the interim operator in about 13 out of 15 that are in place across the province,” said Jock.
Participants observed a panel discussion on Health Transformation featuring Doug Kelly, Richard Jock, and Monika Konrad, Director of Health, Policy, and Advocacy at Nishnawbe Aski Nation, and Nishnawbe Aski Nation Deputy Grand Chief Bobby Narcisse.
‘What does Health Transformation mean to you?’
“Communities know what they need. They know what the health of their community should look like, and they know the solutions; however, every time you go to the government and they’ll have a new idea, and then it gets going, and you begin to think it works. But then what happens? The rug gets pulled out from under you, and you no longer have the funding or support to do it. How much time is spent in that process of tracking down pennies?” Konrad responded. “Health Transformation is about taking back control so that you’re not going to somebody begging for pennies to do what you know needs to be done so they can tell you it’s no longer one of their priorities.”
‘How did you get community buy-in? And what techniques worked best?’
“If we were going to bring change, then we needed broad support from our communities. We met regularly with our Chiefs, leaders, and their health staff. We talked about the opportunities, and that’s when fear came out. You cannot deny fear, you have to deal with it as it comes. It’s all about engagement and acknowledging fear. We created a space for listening and learning,” said Kelly.
Jock added to Kelly’s answer, “We took measures to address the areas of fear. One of the fears was that the resources would not go directly to communities. So, we showed and demonstrated how we would ensure the agreements would transition.”
Later in the day, there was another panel discussion focusing on Health Governance with R. Martin Bayer, a lawyer and Anishinabek Nation Governance Agreement negotiator; Tracey O’Donnell, a lawyer and Anishinabek Nation negotiator; and Madahbee, an advisor with Indigenous Primary Health Care Council.
‘At what stage was a negotiator brought to the table in your respective project and what was the role of that position?’
“In my case, it was right from the beginning. The earlier, the better. You have to identify a chief negotiator and then form a team to guide the negotiations. The team shouldn’t be too big because then it’s hard to manage,” said Bayer.
‘In past projects, what was Chief and Council’s role in the design and development of self-government arrangements?’
“We have to come from a position of strength. The Grand Council Chief has been so strong in advocating for unity. The reality is that a lot of advocacy is required, and we need to be united,” said Madahbee.
“The role of Chief and Council in this process is to be the decision-makers,” O’Donnell responded. “They provide us with the direction, the mandates, and authorities to move forward with negotiations.”
Attendees shared their thoughts on how the Health Transformation Team could proceed with this project.
For more information on Health Transformation, visit health-transformation.ca.