Indigenous leaders call on federal government support for Moosonee, Ont., hospital

Indigenous leaders were in Ottawa on Monday to call on the federal government to follow through on a commitment to fund a new hospital in Moosonee, along Ontario's James Bay coast.

They say the federal government promised to set aside $1.3 billion to help build the hospital, but that money wasn't included in the last federal budget.

The hospital would replace a 74-year-old facility in neighbouring Moose Factory, which is Canada's oldest, non-renovated hospital.

"It's not just a building, it is a symbol of the enduring colonial legacy our people are forced to confront daily," said Lynne Innes, CEO of the Weeneebayko Area Health Authority, which runs health-care services in the region.

The Moose Factory hospital was built in 1950 as a tuberculosis sanitorium, where children who were taken from their home communities were isolated from their families and culture.

Because Moose Factory is on an island, patients have to be transported by helicopter to receive care.

Dr. Elaine Innes, the Weeneebayko Area Health Authority's chief of staff, said patients from James Bay communities often have to travel south to Kingston, Ont., for care.

"We struggle with providing specialty services," she said.

"We can no longer provide obstetrical care because we no longer have the health human resources."

Moose Cree First Nation Chief Peter Wesley extended an invitation for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to visit Moose Factory and see the state of the hospital.

"There's no other hospital where you walk down the hallway and the roof is caving in," Wesley said.

"This would not be tolerated in any other urban community. This would not be tolerated in Ottawa. This would not be tolerated in Toronto, or Sudbury. Why do we have to tolerate it as First Nations people?"

Assembly of First Nations National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak thanked the provincial government for its support on the Moosonee hospital project, but said the federal government has fallen short.

"Now we need the feds to come back to the table," she said.

Woodhouse Nepinak and others noted that the federal government agreed to support the new hospital in 2007, when plans were first unveiled.

'I'm not walking away from that commitment'

Indigenous Services Minister Patty Hajdu previously said in the House of Commons that she remains committed to the project.

"I'm not walking away from that commitment and we will get that hospital built," Hajdu said.

In an email to CBC News, Indigenous Services Canada spokesperson Ryan Tyndall said the federal government's 2018 budget included $158.4 million for the construction of the hospital.

But Tyndall added that health care is a provincial responsibility. He said the federal government has "significantly increased" health transfers to the provinces to support them in delivering health care.

In Ontario, those transfers went from $13.1 billion in 2015 to $20.3 billion in 2024.

"Recognizing the immediate term need for repairs at the Weeneebayko General Hospital, we are currently accelerating investments to maintain services at the existing location," reads the email.  "This ensures people in the region receive the care they need while we work to support partners in building the new hospital."

Indigenous Services Canada says final planning details including the hospital construction phases and costing were received last Wednesday, May 22nd, from Ontario and WAHA who are the project leads. and it is working on a path forward with the Government of Ontario to support them.