A jurisdictional dispute between Ottawa and Ontario over funding for a new nursing home for northern First Nations could once again separate dozens of residential school survivors from their families and communities, First Nations chiefs say. said.
The long-term care license for the facility in the Wikwemkung unaccounted area on Manitoulin Island, about 550 kilometers northwest of Toronto, is set to expire next year.
This care home was built in 1972 and has reached the end of its useful life. Chief Tim Ominika said it is too small to meet space demands, has no room to host cultural events and requires expensive repairs.
Ominika said that if the First Nation cannot secure funding for the new building it is planning, it will relocate 50 Anishinaabe elders, most of them survivors of boarding schools, to other nursing homes across the province. He said he would have no choice but to do so.
Former community chief Rachel Manitowabi said some of the elderly suffer from Alzheimer’s disease or dementia and find it difficult to speak English.
“It’s going to be re-traumatic,” Ominika told CBC News. “That’s not all [for] Not just those residents in long-term care facilities, but the entire community as well. ”
Wikwemkun is $20 million short of the $60 million needed to build a new nursing home.
The province of Ontario has committed $30 million to the project. The Canada Mortgage Corporation donated $7.5 million and the community raised more than $2 million through fundraising efforts.
Hajdu says Ontario has a ‘tendency of discrimination’
Ominika said long-term care is the province’s responsibility, but the federal government should pay off the remaining $20 million because the City of Ottawa is funding similar projects in other communities outside of its jurisdiction. .
The federal government recently awarded $1.2 billion for a new hospital in Moosonee, Ont., $30 million for a new senior care facility in Tyendinaga-Mohawk Territory, and one for a 24-bed senior long-term care facility in Rankin Inlet, Nunavut. announced $94 million.
Indigenous Services Minister Patty Hajdu said the Ontario government should contribute more to the project.
“Again, what we’re seeing from Ontario is a pattern of discrimination against Indigenous peoples,” Hajdu said.
”[Ontario has] Jurisdictional roles and responsibilities in supporting aging. We’re there as partners, but we need the Ontario government to step up. ”
Ontario is keeping that promise. The state government announced that it has secured operating funds, construction grants and development funds for the new facility for 30 years.
“We are disappointed that the federal government has not remained committed to this project and is unnecessarily delaying construction,” said Daniel Strauss, a spokesperson for state long-term care minister Natalia Ksendova Vashta.
Ottawa also faces pressure from the federal NDP to spend the remaining funds.
Algomar-Manitoulin-Kapuskasing NDP MP Carol Hughes and Nunavut NDP MP Lori Idraut made the request to Hajdu in a letter sent last month.
“At this time, it is critical that the Wikwemkun Accredited First Nation has the funding it needs to keep its Elders in their communities and prevent them from being displaced again,” Hughes said.
Ominika said he spoke briefly with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and met with other government officials in Ottawa earlier this month. They offered to help find other funding sources, he said.
“I was a little disappointed,” Ominika said. “This is not what we were asking for at the eleventh hour. We’ve been asking for some help for years.”
The new building planned for the community will have 96 beds, 37 more than the current housing, and space for programming so seniors can share their knowledge with youth.
Our current facility is at capacity and our waiting list is growing. That license is scheduled to expire on June 30, 2025.
Indigenous Services Canada said the province has agreed to extend the current housing permit while the community seeks additional funding.
Ominika said he would only consider extending the license if the state secured funding to build a new facility. He said he expects construction to take two years.
A new home is more than just a construction project for a community. Ominika said this is a down payment to preserve Wikwemkung culture for future generations.
“If the government doesn’t secure this funding, we will lose all of it,” he said.
