JIM BELL
Nunatsiaq News
IQALUIT — Nunavut Premier Paul Okalik says he’s pleased that Canada’s western premiers are calling on Ottawa to honour the lofty promises made to aboriginal people in this year’s throne speech.
Okalik emerged June 1 from a two-day meeting of Canada’s western premiers in Moose Jaw, Sask. to announce that he and his colleagues are getting impatient with Ottawa’s foot-dragging.
"I’m very pleased with the support that I am receiving from my colleagues. Hopefully it will open up their ears in Ottawa. Hopefully they’ll start listening and start implementing," Okalik said.
In Governor General Adrienne Clarkson’s Jan. 30 throne speech, the newly re-elected Liberal government promised to "ensure" that aboriginal people’s employment, health care, education, housing and infrastructure needs are met.
"This commitment will be reflected in all the government’s priorities," Clarkson said.
But just last month, Indian Affairs Minister Bob Nault dodged questions about the throne-speech promise at a national gathering of aboriginal-affairs ministers and aboriginal organizations in Winnipeg.
"The minister seemed to have no real plan in place," Okalik said at the time.
Okalik then wrote to Prime Minister Jean Chrétien demanding answers to questions about how and when his government will carry out its promises.
"The throne speech is a major thing for our territory and that was the focus of my attendance here with the western premiers, to push the federal government to implement the throne speech," Okalik said.
In a May 31 communiqué, the premiers of Canada’s four western provinces, along with the premiers of Yukon, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut, accused Ottawa of dumping its responsibilities for aboriginal health and social programs onto the provinces and territories.
"Premiers noted that the federal government’s failure to accept its full fiscal responsibilities for aboriginal people impacts on their health and welfare, restricts their ability to take advantage of employment and business opportunities, and adds significant expenditure pressures on provinces and territories," their communiqué read.
Okalik cited Nunavut’s medical-travel costs as an example. According to a recent Nunavut health department analysis, Ottawa is reimbursing Nunavut for only a tiny fraction of its NIHB-related medical-travel costs, even though it has pledged to reimburse aboriginals for the full cost.
Okalik said if the federal government paid its fair share for medical travel, Nunavut could spend its health budget on other pressing needs.
"All provinces and territories end up paying the bill when the federal government neglects to deliver on their constitutional obligations," Okalik said.
Another issue for Nunavut is the inadequacy of the per-capita funding formula used in the Canada Health and Social Transfer, which does little for jurisdictions with small populations.
Western premiers also called on Ottawa to:
• Add an escalator to the CHST, which they say does not give provinces enough money for health care and post-secondary education, despite last year’s social union agreement;
• Put an end to what they call "photo-op" federalism — time-limited federal health and social programs created and announced without the co-operation of the provinces and territories;
• Create a federal-provincial-territorial mechanism for resolving disputes related to the Canada Health Act;
• Expand early childhood education programs, and spend more to combat fetal alcohol syndrome in aboriginal communities.