Nunavik: Time is running out

We read in the Nunatsiaq News of Sept. 23 and the Soleil of Oct. 4 that the yet-unreleased report by the Quebec Human Rights and Youth Rights Commission indicates that complaints, made in 2002 concerning poor treatment that certain children in Nunavik have received, are extremely well-founded.

According to these two newspapers, this report shows that negligence, poor treatment, and physical and sexual abuse occur widely and often in Nunavik. The report also indicates that Youth Protection Services in Nunavik, whose legal responsibility is to deal with these occurrences, is not fulfilling its role.

This report was supposed to be made available in June of 2004. It has not yet been publicly released. Who is preventing its communication and why? That is the question we should be asking ourselves, isn’t it?

How many more rapes, poor treatments, suicides, murders, acts of violence and mutilation against women have to occur before the government, the regional health board, organizations and Inuit leaders act together to deal with these problems?

The Inuit population is very young and the birth-rate very high. The growth of this population is already creating enormous pressure on housing. Elders are no longer abandoned in igloos at the end of the winter to die of hunger or other causes. They must live with their children, in dwellings that are already occupied at 300 and 400 per cent.

There is no mental health program. Inuit and non-Inuit social workers isolated in the 14 Nunavik villages intervene, with a minimum of supervision, and often by long-distance.

There is no integrated family-child-youth program in place, supported by strong leadership from the health board and the public health services. As a result the workers take action on their own. As people say there, “we do our best.”

Telecommunications are inadequate, although effective videoconferencing could be an excellent way to assure a minimum of supervision and training in the 14 points of service spread out over Ungava Bay, the Hudson Strait, and Eastern Hudson Bay.

We also know that a strategic plan was to be put before the Inuit leaders and the health department in May of 2005. This plan proposes ways of solving pressing issues. This report has not been made public yet, either.

After having spent three months in the North as an assistant to the executive director of one of the health centers in Nunavik, I saw great weakness in the higher levels of management, either because positions weren’t filled or that managers were absent, spending the greater part of their time in the South attending various meetings within the health and social services system.

I also saw how much the middle management, doctors, as well as Inuit and non- Inuit staff, need to have adequate administrative and clinical support. I also saw how hard the Inuit women are working to improve things for their families and communities.

Sir, you became publicly and quickly involved when you were informed of the abuses suffered by some clients at the St. Charles Borromée long-term care centre. You judged that this could be the tip of the iceberg and that all centres should expect surprise visits from a tactical team from your department. I think that the North also needs your serious attention.

I believe that Nunavik can progressively become a territory in charge of its own destiny. I also think that a well-structured action plan and an on-site follow-up, formally put in place, should be agreed upon among the parties so that this transfer of responsibility can be carried out in harmony, dignity and with respect for those vulnerable individuals — children, women and the elders.

There are already many competent people involved in the North, where the health system spends $80 million every year for approximately 11,000 people.

What we also need is strong and responsible leadership, present in the North, which would seek ways to ensure quality services for Inuit, based on existing standards with normal follow-up procedures and accountability to the minister.

I thank you for your attention.

Jean Lavigne, Sociologist
Sherbrooke