More flak for Aglukkaq

Members of the legislative assembly continued to take shots at Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq throughout the most recent sitting, which ended last week.

Hunter Tootoo, MLA for Iqaluit Centre, asked Aglukkaq questions about the state of funding to Pairijait Tigumivik Society, which operates Iqaluit’s elders centre as well as the Tammaativvik medical boarding home.

According to a letter tabled in the legislature by Tootoo, written by Loseeosee Aipelee, the society’s executive director, the existing boarding home will be too small to serve patients at the new hospital.

Aipelee also says the elders society has been consistently underfunded by as much as $200,000 each year for the services they provide.

“Does the minister feel that it’s right that a non-profit organization should carry the deficit for providing a service to the government for the Department of Health and Social Services?” Tootoo asked on Tuesday, June 13.

In response, Aglukkaq said more than 20 meetings have taken place between her staff and members of the elders society.

But she said before more funding is committed, her department needs to be assured the money is being spent for approved purposes.

“We need to know whether in fact they are meeting the contract requirements, or providing additional services outside that may be driving the cost,” she said.

“We don’t know for sure at this point in time whether the costs and deficit incurred by the society is strictly as a result of the services that we’ve asked them to provide. That is a concern we have.”

James Arreak, MLA for Uqqummuit, asked Aglukkaq on Tuesday for an update on his long-standing demand for steady, reliable “core” funding for Clyde River’s Ilisaqsivik Society.

Ilisaqsivik provides health and wellness programs for mothers and children, literacy programs, access to computers and counseling. It also supports a men’s healing group, women’s sewing circle, an elders’ group, youth council and Sukkakut, a group for women.

Aglukkaq said that she is “a strong believer” in what Ilisaqsivik does, but improving its funding becomes complicated, because the money comes from the federal government, funneled by the Government of Nunavut.

She said her department is working on making the process less complicated for Ilisaqsivik and similar groups around Nunavut.

“I’m trying to come up with a framework that can be used by other communities around those different levels of funding government agencies,” she said.

And throughout the session Rankin Inlet MLA Tagak Curley continued to hound Aglukkaq about the number of nurses in Rankin Inlet. He also said he knew of an elder who was given the wrong medication because he had no translator.

Aglukkaq said all six registered nursing positions are filled, and reminded Curley that a new medical travel policy was on its way.