Minister regrets ‘terrorism’ comment

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This article was published 13/02/2009 (6441 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Health Minister Theresa Oswald wrote a First Nation chief Thursday to express her regret over using the word “terrorism” in an exchange about high fees a private agency was charging to send doctors to the north.

The northern chief, St. Theresa Point leader David McDougall, issued his own statement earlier in the day calling for an apology after he interpreted the statement as an offensive remark linking terrorism to First Nations. He has scheduled a press conference for this morning to complain about the remark.

A spokesman for Oswald said she used the word but only to refer to the frustration she felt at being held economic hostage to the agency fees.

“The minister has corrected that impression in a letter today to the chief. The comments were not directed to the chief and I understand he has accepted that. The minister sincerely does regret any misunderstanding,” a Doer government spokesman said late Thursday.

McDougall was meeting Oswald and Eric Robinson, Minister of Culture, Heritage, Tourism and Sport and Acting Minister of Aboriginal and Northern Affairs, Feb. 6 at the legislature. They were joined by a representative from Amdocs, a private agency that flies doctors to remote communities for a fee.

“They were trying to negotiate an agreement to supply doctors to St. Theresa Point and the fees Amdocs demanded were incredibly high. And the minister made a comment out of frustration, like, ‘This is like terrorism, this fee is way too high. You’re holding us hostage’,” the spokesman said. He stressed Oswald was not referring to First Nations.

The province is now looking at hiring doctors through another agency, the spokesman said. He did not disclose the fees that prompted the remark.

St. Theresa Point First Nation is a fly-in Island Lakes community, located 470 kilometres northeast of Winnipeg,

The health minister is currently weathering two scandals in her portfolio: The death of Brian Sinclair, who waited 34 hours in an emergency waiting room in a wheelchair and died before seeing a doctor or a nurse. And another one about a multi-million dollar series of payments in brown envelopes from medical suppliers to the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority.

Critics are calling the payments a form of kick-backs.

alexandra.paul@freepress.mb.ca