Ottawa reviews First Nations’ plea for military help

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This article was published 01/04/2020 (2312 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Calls to set up a military hospital in northern Manitoba and bring ventilators to First Nations have been met with no promises.

More than $35 million in federal funds is set to go to Manitoba First Nations as part of the country’s COVID-19 response plan, but a federal government spokesperson said Wednesday it is still reviewing requests from First Nations leaders who have asked for military support as they brace for the arrival of COVID-19 in their communities.

On Monday, Norway House Cree Nation and Pimicikamak (Cross Lake) jointly asked the government to establish a military field hospital to help with testing, isolating and treating cases of the virus. Farther south in Berens River First Nation, leaders proposed establishing a regional emergency ventilator centre and oxygen-tank refilling station, and they asked for the military’s help to keep emergency flights running.

No cases have been confirmed in any of those communities, which have a combined on-reserve population of roughly 17,000. On Tuesday, the first case of COVID-19 in northern Manitoba was announced in Flin Flon.

Remote Indigenous communities are particularly vulnerable to the spread of the virus, federal officials have acknowledged.

“Even one case in any of these communities is extremely serious,” Dr. Theresa Tam, Canada’s chief public health officer, said during a news conference Tuesday in Ottawa.

Pimicikamak Chief David Monias said he knows that to be true. Twelve people live in his household. There are about 900 homes in the community and roughly 8,600 people. Overcrowding and lack of medical resources are major concerns. The community is in lockdown, and Monias said he knows the nursing station staff are doing their best, but they’re already stretched thin.

“It’s going to be very devastating for us. And if we don’t have the hospital or treatment facilities, well, we’re going to stay home and die,” Monias said. By phone Tuesday evening, he said his community is just trying to plan and prepare as it awaits the government’s response.

“Right now we’re doing the best we can with what we have,” he said. “If they had a plan, and they can identify what the plan is to us, something that can reassure us that we are going to be safe.”

The department of national defence said in a statement to the Free Press it is reviewing the requests for military support, along with other federal and provincial government departments.

-with files from Dylan Robertson

katie.may@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @thatkatiemay