NDP Critic for Health and Long-Term Care Critic France Gélinas today blasted the McGuinty Liberals for continuing to deliver “second class” health care in First Nations communities.

“The Chiefs of Ontario know that we need to focus on the key social determinants of health. They know healing requires culturally appropriate health promotion. They’ve asked the McGuinty Liberals to invest in existing and new Aboriginal Health Access Centres (AHACs) and promote health in First Nations communities. Why are the McGuinty Liberals ignoring their obligations?” said Gélinas.

The Chiefs of Ontario are in Toronto for their Health Planning Forum and staged a Unity Rally in Support of the Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug Leadership at Queen’s Park. According to the Chiefs of Ontario, the incidence of “Type 2” diabetes is three to five times higher in First Nations communities, the incidence of heart disease is 1.5 times higher and the incidence of tuberculosis is eight to 10 times higher. Additionally, First Nations youth are committing suicide at up to 8 times the overall national rate.

The Association of Ontario Health Centres (AOHC) has repeatedly asked the McGuinty Liberals to eliminate what it calls the “second class status of Aboriginal Health Access Centres and the communities they serve.” Today in the Legislature, Minister of Health and Long-Term Care George Smitherman refused.

According to the AOHC, funding for AHACs has flat-lined since 1997. AHACs, which focus on traditional healing approaches, deliver non-profit, interdisciplinary primary care, illness prevention, health promotion, and community development services to First Nations, Métis, and Inuit communities.

“Chronic under-funding by the McGuinty Liberals has limited the ability of AHACs to reach tens of thousands of Aboriginal Ontarians in need of care and support. As the AOHC says, First Nations communities are expected to accept primary health care at a second-class level. Why won’t the McGuinty Liberals listen to the concerns of the Chiefs of Ontario?” asked Gélinas.