Indigenous services minister says more support needed for people in Nunavut
Indigenous Services Minister Marc Miller says the federal government needs to do more to support people living in Nunavut, particularly when it comes to the territory's long-standing housing crisis.
The Liberal politician made his first-ever visit to Nunavut this week, spending two days in Iqaluit.
In an interview with The Canadian Press, Miller said overcrowded housing in Nunavut was "a vehicle for spread" of COVID-19. Last fall, a COVID-19 outbreak in Arviat, Nunavut, infected 339 of the community's 3,000 people and killed one person.
"For Nunavummiut, that's not a surprise," Miller said Friday.
With more than half of Nunavut's residents living in overcrowded homes, as highlighted in MP Mumilaaq Qaqqaq's territorial housing report, Miller said people are left more vulnerable.
"Most people don't look at housing through a health lens," said Miller. "They see it as somewhere to live ... but they don't see it through the health lens that many people in Nunavut have been saying for ages and have been ignored."
He said remoteness shouldn't mean communities such as those in Nunavut are left behind the rest of the country.
"We have to make sure that Inuit get first-class treatment in a country that everyone looks at as a first-class health-care system."
Miller said the pandemic showed systemic racism affects remote communities like those in Nunavut when it comes to accessing health care.
With no intensive care unit in the territory and only one hospital for its 25 communities, COVID-19 patients who needed treatment were flown hundreds of kilometres to southern Canada.
"One case of COVID in the North costs a lot more than one case of COVID in the south," he said.
Miller also addressed Qaqqaq's scathing farewell speech in June when the New Democrat announced she wouldn't seek re-election. In it, Qaqqaq said she was racially profiled by security on Parliament Hill and didn't feel safe at work.
"I am horrified ... but that is her reality and that is what she lived," Miller said. "The House itself is a parochial, paternalistic beast."
Later Friday, Miller and Ahmed Huseen, minister for Families, Children and Social Development, touted the Liberals' budget commitments to build Indigenous-led shelters for people experiencing gender-based violence.
Applications for shelters and transitional housing will open in September, with funding earmarked for 38 emergency shelters and 50 transitional homes across Canada.
Aluki Kotierk, president of the land claims organization Nunavut Tunngavik Inc, said the money is much-needed, but too little, too late.
"It doesn't meet our needs. We have a current housing crisis. But I think we're encouraged because this is the beginning," Kotierk said in an interview.
She said her organization had requested $500 million for housing in Nunavut, but the 2021 budget only set aside $25 million.
"We were very disappointed with that," Kotierk said.
Although it was Miller's first time in Iqaluit, he noted the Nunavut capital is a regular campaign stop for politicians from all parties.
"A lot of politicians come here, but ... I do want to see what challenges that smaller communities face. The farther removed you are, the more in the back of people's minds you are," Miller said.
Liberal cabinet ministers made another announcement Friday in the North, with Hussen and Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland touting their budget commitments to child care and early learning in Whitehorse.
---
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 23, 2021
This story was produced with the financial assistance of the Facebook and Canadian Press News Fellowship.
IN DEPTH
'One of the greatest': Former prime minister Brian Mulroney commemorated at state funeral
Prominent Canadians, political leaders, and family members remembered former prime minister and Progressive Conservative titan Brian Mulroney as an ambitious and compassionate nation-builder at his state funeral on Saturday.
Trudeau, key election players to testify at foreign interference hearings. What you need to know
The public hearings portion of the federal inquiry into foreign interference in Canadian elections and democratic institutions are picking back up this week. Here's what you need to know.
Who is supporting, opposing new online harms bill?
Now that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's sweeping online harms legislation is before Parliament, allowing key stakeholders, major platforms, and Canadians with direct personal experience with abuse to dig in and see what's being proposed, reaction is streaming in. CTVNews.ca has rounded up reaction, and here's how Bill C-63 is going over.
As Poilievre sides with Smith on trans restrictions, former Conservative candidate says he's 'playing with fire'
Siding with Alberta Premier Danielle Smith on her proposed restrictions on transgender youth, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre confirmed Wednesday that he is against trans and non-binary minors using puberty blockers.
TREND LINE What Nanos' tracking tells us about Canadians' mood, party preference heading into 2024
Heading into a new year, Canadians aren't feeling overly optimistic about the direction the country is heading, with the number of voters indicating negative views about the federal government's performance at the highest in a decade, national tracking from Nanos Research shows.
Opinion
opinion Don Martin: Gusher of Liberal spending won't put out the fire in this dumpster
A Hail Mary rehash of the greatest hits from the Trudeau government’s three-week travelling pony-show, the 2024 federal budget takes aim at reversing the party’s popularity plunge in the under-40 set, writes political columnist Don Martin. But will it work before the next election?
opinion Don Martin: The doctor Trudeau dumped has a prescription for better health care
Political columnist Don Martin sat down with former federal health minister Jane Philpott, who's on a crusade to help fix Canada's broken health care system, and who declined to take any shots at the prime minister who dumped her from caucus.
opinion Don Martin: Trudeau's seeking shelter from the housing storm he helped create
While Justin Trudeau's recent housing announcements are generally drawing praise from experts, political columnist Don Martin argues there shouldn’t be any standing ovations for a prime minister who helped caused the problem in the first place.
opinion Don Martin: Poilievre has the field to himself as he races across the country to big crowds
It came to pass on Thursday evening that the confidentially predictable failure of the Official Opposition non-confidence motion went down with 204 Liberal, BQ and NDP nays to 116 Conservative yeas. But forcing Canada into a federal election campaign was never the point.
opinion Don Martin: How a beer break may have doomed the carbon tax hike
When the Liberal government chopped a planned beer excise tax hike to two per cent from 4.5 per cent and froze future increases until after the next election, says political columnist Don Martin, it almost guaranteed a similar carbon tax move in the offing.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Health Canada to change sperm donor screening rules for men who have sex with men
Health Canada will change its longstanding policy restricting gay and bisexual men from donating to sperm banks in Canada, CTV News has learned. The federal health agency has adopted a revised directive removing the ban on gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men, effective May 8.
American millionaire Jonathan Lehrer denied bail after being charged with killing Canadian couple
American millionaire Jonathan Lehrer, one of two men charged in the killings of a Canadian couple in Dominica, has been denied bail.
LeBlanc says he plans to run in next election, under Trudeau's leadership
Cabinet minister Dominic LeBlanc says he plans to run in the next election as a candidate under Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's leadership, amid questions about his rumoured interest in succeeding his longtime friend for the top job.
U.S. vetoes a widely supported UN resolution backing full membership for Palestine
The United States has vetoed a widely backed UN resolution that would have paved the way for full United Nations membership for the state of Palestine.
Sports columnist apologizes for 'oafish' comments directed at Caitlin Clark. The controversy isn’t over
A male columnist has apologized for a cringeworthy moment during former University of Iowa superstar and college basketball’s highest scorer Caitlin Clark’s first news conference as an Indiana Fever player.
Bayer recalls hydraSense baby product over 'potential contamination'
Bayer announced Thursday it is recalling two lots of its hydraSense Baby Nasal Care Easydose due to a potential contamination.
Cat found on Toronto Pearson airport runway 3 days after going missing
Kevin the cat has been reunited with his family after enduring a harrowing three-day ordeal while lost at Toronto Pearson International Airport earlier this week.
Grandparent scam suspects had ties to Italian organized crime, police allege
A group of suspects that allegedly defrauded seniors across Ontario and other parts of Canada using a so-called emergency grandparent scam appear to have ties to 'Italian traditional organized crime,' according to an investigator involved in the OPP-led probe.
Trend Line Anger, pessimism towards federal government reach six-year high: Nanos survey
Most Canadians in March reported feeling angry or pessimistic towards the federal government than at any point in the last six years, according to a survey by Nanos Research.
Local Spotlight
Cat found on Toronto Pearson airport runway 3 days after going missing
Kevin the cat has been reunited with his family after enduring a harrowing three-day ordeal while lost at Toronto Pearson International Airport earlier this week.
Molly on a mission: N.S. student collecting books about women in sport for school library
Molly Knight, a grade four student in Nova Scotia, noticed her school library did not have many books on female athletes, so she started her own book drive in hopes of changing that.
Where did the gold go? Crime expert weighs in on unfolding Pearson airport heist investigation
Almost 7,000 bars of pure gold were stolen from Pearson International Airport exactly one year ago during an elaborate heist, but so far only a tiny fraction of that stolen loot has been found.
Marmot in the city: New resident of North Vancouver's Lower Lonsdale a 'rock star rodent'
When Les Robertson was walking home from the gym in North Vancouver's Lower Lonsdale neighbourhood three weeks ago, he did a double take. Standing near a burrow it had dug in a vacant lot near East 1st Street and St. Georges Avenue was a yellow-bellied marmot.
Relocated seal returns to Greater Victoria after 'astonishing' 204-kilometre trek
A moulting seal who was relocated after drawing daily crowds of onlookers in Greater Victoria has made a surprise return, after what officials described as an 'astonishing' six-day journey.
Ottawa barber shop steps away from Parliament Hill marks 100 years in business
Just steps from Parliament Hill is a barber shop that for the last 100 years has catered to everyone from prime ministers to tourists.
'It was a special game': Edmonton pinball player celebrates high score and shout out from game designer
A high score on a Foo Fighters pinball machine has Edmonton player Dave Formenti on a high.
'How much time do we have?': 'Contamination' in Prairie groundwater identified
A compound used to treat sour gas that's been linked to fertility issues in cattle has been found throughout groundwater in the Prairies, according to a new study.
'Why not do it together?': Lifelong friends take part in 'brosectomy' in Vancouver
While many people choose to keep their medical appointments private, four longtime friends decided to undergo vasectomies as a group in B.C.'s Lower Mainland.