Provincial Health Minister Stephen Mandel was in Fort McMurray today to meet with local First Nations leaders.
Mandel met with Chief Steve Courtoreille, of the Mikisew Cree First Nation, and Chief Allan Adam, of the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation.adf
Chief Courtoreille said the unusually high cancer rates in Fort Chipewyan were a topic of discussion. “That was part of the discussion, that’s something that we always want to keep in the forefront, and letting him know that we’re not satisfied with the reports that were put out. He [Mandel] was very interested in further discussions and we’re going to have another meeting in Fort Chipewyan on the issue.”
The First Nations leaders brought up a number of other issues surrounding health care in their communities.
“A lot of the concerns were about healthcare, more full time doctors out there, more registered nurses, they [First Nations Leaders] were concerned about the quality of the ambulance that is out there, better support for the X-Ray system, there was issues of water. They have a long term care facility that they want to get certified.” said Mandel. “There was a multitude of things that we talked about and we said that we would get answers to them, which we will do.”
The local ambulance in Fort Chipewyan is a van that has been retrofitted to be an ambulance, with room for a stretcher and no room for a paramedic to tend to the patient in the back.
Both sides said that today’s talks were progressive.
“I have a lot of respect for Minister Mandel, I knew of him when he was Mayor of Edmonton, I think he’s the right fit for being the Minister of Health, he cares, and you want to work with someone that will try and make a difference,” said Courtoreille.
