Nunavut health minister eyes ‘fresh start’ with federal government

With a new leader at Indigenous Services Canada, Nunavut Health Minister John Main is hoping for a “fresh start” with the federal agency as the Government of Nunavut seeks a deal to fund the Non-Insured Health Benefits program.

Main will head to Ottawa next week after this legislative sitting ends on June 3. He hopes to meet with Mandy Gull-Masty, the new Indigenous Services minister, who earned the cabinet position following her victory in the Abitibi—Baie-James—Nunavik—Eeyou riding in last month’s federal election.

Securing federal funding for NIHB — a program that covers costs such as medical travel and dental and vision care for Nunavut Inuit — is what Main says is his top priority.

The GN’s previous NIHB funding agreement with Indigenous Services Canada expired at the end of March. Since then, the Health department has been in what Main called a “holding pattern,” in seeking an agreement for a new deal.

“There is some hope there that with the new minister, we’ll see a change in the approach,” Main said, describing Gull-Masty as “a minister who is intimately familiar with northern life.”

Main said it’s important that Indigenous Services Canada properly funds NIHB because it is a federal program which the GN administers for Ottawa.

Without full funding, the Health department is forced to eat into its own $580-million operating budget to cover shortfalls. Main has previously threatened to return administration of the program to the federal government if a deal can’t be reached.

“We need to be devoting our energy to other things that are more important, such as better diagnosis and screening for cancers, better mental health treatments for Nunavut residents, better infrastructure to provide for their needs at the community level,” he said.

The Health department is seeking a $236-million commitment from Indigenous Services Canada to cover the fiscal year ending March 31, 2026. The previous funding agreement was $190 million over two years, which expired March 31.

But, Main said, “The biggest figure that we continue to mention is 100, as in 100 per cent of the cost needs to be covered by the agency that owns the program, which is Indigenous Services Canada.”

Nunatsiaq News requested an interview with Gull-Masty. Staff at Indigenous Services Canada acknowledged the request, but as of Friday neither Gull-Masty nor the department have responded to Main’s recent comments.

Main said he hopes the next NIHB commitment provides more long-term certainty because previous territorial health ministers have had to deal with the same challenge.

“When you see a repetition or you see a pattern that keeps coming up and taking up a lot of resources and energy, it makes you wonder: Isn’t there a better way to solve this problem?” he said.