Commissioner Romanow’s excellent adventure

KIRSTEN MURPHY

The head of the Commission on the Future of Health Care takes a three-day tour of Iqaluit and Pangnirtung, practicing his Inuktitut, tasting country food and deciding what’s in store for Nunavut

Roy Romanow rolled through eastern Nunavut last weekend, unleashing the trademark charm that marked his 33-year political career in Saskatchewan.

The retired NDP premier was appointed last year by Prime Minister Jean Chrétien to head the federal Commission on the Future of Health Care. He’s been touring the country, listening to public concerns and getting a first-hand look at some of Canada’s aging health-care structures.

Romanow began his inaugural visit to Nunavut on Saturday with a tour of Iqaluit’s Baffin Regional Hospital. He was visibly surprised by what he called an overcrowded supply room, but he commended hospital staff for making the best of limited resources.

On Sunday, he visited Pangnirtung’s health centre with Nunavut Health Minister Ed Picco. Romanow’s enthusiastic attempts at speaking Inuktitut in both communities were met with approving nods.

“This was a reality check and I know this has only been a taste,” Romanow said. “I was very impressed with the orderliness of the facilities, the motivation of the staff and the community outreach.”

The youthful 62-year-old commissioner listened carefully as Madeleine Qumuartok, the president of Nunavut’s Council on the Status of Women, told of the community’s need for more accessible diagnostic services to combat the growing cases of breast cancer, cervical cancer, diabetes and sexually transmitted diseases. She also pointed to the costs and the trauma of sending unilingual Inuit south for treatment.

The language issue hit home for Romanow, who said his parents, who spoke only Ukrainian, also struggled to be understood in the Canadian medical system.

Members of the Pangnirtung health committee raised concerns about the need for mental health services, as well as a women’s shelter in the community. Like many other Nunavut communities, Pangnirtung lacks facilities to provide weekly dental treatments and regular eye care programs to residents — services most southerners take for granted.

Some participants raised the need to incorporate Inuit traditional knowledge into health care. Teleconferencing would reduce the cost of sending patients south, other committee members said.

“Sitting down and talking with the people speaks louder than any of the briefs we get,” Romanow barked over the drone of the twin otter’s engine during the return flight to Iqaluit.

Role of the commission

Prime Minister Jean Chrétien appointed Romanow to head the commission on April 4, 2001 — two months after Romanow ended his 10-year tenure as Saskatchewan’s premier.

Recommendations from the commission may result in changes to the Medical Care Act, also known as Medicare. The 38-year-old act has not been revised or amended since Lester B. Pearson’s Liberal government penned it in 1964.

Romanow’s visit may mean many things for many Nunavummiut as well.

Nunavut has several notable distinctions, he said, including an extreme housing shortage, relative isolation, rotating doctors, lack of permanent specialists and waves of short-term nurses. As with other aboriginal people in Canada, the medical expenses of Nunavummiut are covered by Health Canada and the commission must consider who and how best to continue administering the funds.

Nunavut also has the dubious distinction of having the country’s highest suicide, smoking and substance abuse rates — issues that emphasize the need for education and prevention campaigns as well as diagnostic procedures and treatment regimes.

“I hope to set up a model that is supple enough to take these issues into account. The big challenge for me is to write a clear, compelling and sustainable report,” he said.

Romanow’s Nunavut visit marks the half-way point in the commission’s 18-city, three-month tour.

When penning his recommendations this summer, Romanow said he’ll note Nunavut’s unique cultural, social and linguistic issues.

The three-day tour at times played out like comedy routine between Romanow and Picco — or Minster Ed as the commissioner affectionately called him. During a tour of the legislative assembly, Picco jokingly pulled a panna (caribou-bone snow knife) and pointed it at Romanow. The two grown politicians roared at the suggestion of the lengths to which Picco would go to get more federal dollars for health.

Ignoring a recommendation to check out Iqaluit’s night life, Romanow opted to stay in his hotel room and jot down his impressions of the eastern Arctic and prepare for a public meeting on the future of health care, the following day.

“I’ll remember the landing in Pang, the mountains, the beauty and history of the communities and the genuine warmth and honesty people brought to the table,” he said.

During his brief stay, Romanow sampled char at a Sunday brunch and dug into a caribou steak with wild rice at dinner. Sporting tan slacks, blue blazer and taupe raincoat for much of the visit, Romanow — once dubbed the “golden boy” of the NDP — appeared as at home making conversation with strangers in airport lobbies as he did meeting with health and government officials.

While in Pangnirtung, the amateur tennis player picked up a pair of snow goggles, which he happily modeled for the camera.

Although somewhat reluctant to talk about his personal life, he admitted to several brushes with greatness — including riding a restricted subway with New York Senator Hillary Clinton, wife of former U.S. president Bill Clinton, and crossing paths with movie actor Harrison Ford.

His appointment to the commission came as a surprise, one too good to pass up, he said.

Romanow’s future plans include a possible return trip to Nunavut in the summer, plenty of tennis and a return to public life.

“I’m going to start a band,” he said with a grin.