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Flu prep: Ottawa ships body bags to northern Manitoba reserves

Pathfinder

Pathfinder

Editor, Senior Moderator
Winnipeg Free Press -

Flu prep: Ottawa ships body bags to northern Manitoba reserves
By: Staff Writer

16/09/2009 1:51 PM

WINNIPEG - Chiefs in northern Manitoba are not impressed with Ottawa’s most recent shipment of materials to prepare for an expected H1N1 influenza outbreak: body bags.

The Island Lakes communities of St. Theresa Point, Wasagamack and Garden Hill received earlier this week shipments of 30 body bags, which are used to contain the dead.

"We had asked for funding so we can get organized and to ensure medicines, hand sanitizers and other preventative kits were in place but instead we are shocked to receive the body bags instead of the preventative kits," Wasagamack chief Jerry Nott said.

"To me, this is unacceptable and I am demanding an answer."

"This is an ominous sign that the government is predicting a grim outcome," said Chief David McDougall of St. Theresa Point First Nation.

A spokesman for the chiefs said calls to federal Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq have gone unanswered.


http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/lo...s-to-northern-Manitoba-reserves-59489677.html
 
Last edited:
Re: Flu prep: Ottawa ships body bags to northern Manitoba reserves

Do Not Give Up

We are with you.


The Team at FluTrackers.
 
Re: Flu prep: Ottawa ships body bags to northern Manitoba reserves

The minister of Health of Canada just said on a press conference that an inquiry will be done concerning this morbid attitude from the Health department.

Snowy Owl
 
Re: Flu prep: Ottawa ships body bags to northern Manitoba reserves

Body bag shipments ?routine restocking': Health Canada
A box of body bags are shown at a federal government building in Winnipeg, Wednesday Sept. 16, 2009. Aboriginal leaders in Manitoba say they are horrified and want an explanation as to why some of the reserves hardest hit by swine flu in the spring have just received dozens of body bags from Health Canada.

A box of body bags are shown at a federal government building in Winnipeg, Wednesday Sept. 16, 2009. Aboriginal leaders in Manitoba say they are horrified and want an explanation as to why some of the reserves hardest hit by swine flu in the spring have just received dozens of body bags from Health Canada. David Lipnowski /The Canadian Press

Shipment meant for ?unknown and unforeseen events,? not necessarily for flu pandemic; ?In this case, we overestimated,' official explains

PATRICK WHITE

Winnipeg ? Globe and Mail Update Last updated on Thursday, Sep. 17, 2009 03:38PM EDT

A Manitoba Health Canada official apologized for sending body bags to Manitoba First Nations communities this afternoon, explaining that the over 200 post-mortem kits sent to northern communities were never intended to be part of flu kits.

Jim Wolfe, Manitoba director of Health Canada's Inuit and Aboriginal Health Branch, told reporters in Winnipeg that the body-bag shipment was a ?routine restocking? of remote nursing stations to help them prepare for ?unknown and unforeseen events, whether it be a plane crash, environmental disaster or pandemic.?

?It is unfortunate that this has been linked exclusively with H1N1,? he said. ?Health Canada apologizes. We all regret the alarm caused by the stocking of this particular item.?

Health Canada regularly re-stocks body bags every three or four months, he said. But especially in the case of Wasagamatch First Nation, which received roughly 30 of the bags, the number of bags delivered ?was excessive.?

?In this case, we overestimated,? he said. ?Our apology is to all First Nations.?

First Nations leaders expressed outrage yesterday when dozens of body bags were delivered to remote northern communities. Already tense after a spring flu season that hit aboriginals in the province disproportionately hard, many chiefs saw the bags as insulting and culturally insensitive.

Minister of Health Leona Aglukkaq speaks at a news conference in Ottawa Wednesday, September 16, 2009 to explain how northern native communities were shipped body bags to help the fight against H1N1 flu.

In many First Nations cultures, to prepare for death is to invite death. Late yesterday, several chiefs returned over a dozen of the post-mortem kits to Health Canada in symbolic protest.

The Health Canada apology followed a statement of regret from federal Minister of Health Leona Aglukkaq earlier in the day. ?What happened is unacceptable. It was insensitive and offensive,? she said, vowing to investigate the issue through an immediate inquiry.

The apology coincided with the Provincial-Territorial Conference of Ministers of Health, where top health officials from every province but Nova Scotia discussed H1N1 preparedness, flu cost-sharing with the federal government and sharing health workers between provinces in the case of a serious outbreak.

?The centre of discussion was around H1N1, that's no surprise, ? said conference chair Theresa Oswald, Manitoba's minister of health. She said the body-bag issue was regrettable, but emphasized the federal government, and not the province, is responsible for delivery of flu supplies to First Nations communities in Manitoba.

The provincial ministers will meet with Ms. Aglukaqq throughout the afternoon. They will be asking her to consider sharing vaccine costs 50/50 between Ottawa and the provinces.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news...tine-restocking-health-canada/article1291664/
 
Re: Flu prep: Ottawa ships body bags to northern Manitoba reserves

A sincere apology should be followed by remedial action. Health Canada should now send First Nations their health supplies (Tamiflu, hand sanitizer, etc.) immediately.
 
Re: Flu prep: Ottawa ships body bags to northern Manitoba reserves

I saw a brief piece about the bags last night and was hoping it was a rumor. I'm glad Canadian authorities are trying to communicate, but agree that actions to target addressing the risks First Nation people face is what is needed was has been needed from what I've read. Hope this catalyzes those actions.
 
Re: Flu prep: Ottawa ships body bags to northern Manitoba reserves

Probe ordered into body bags shipments

By ELIZABETH THOMPSON, SUN MEDIA

Last Updated: 17th September 2009, 4:00pm

OTTAWA - The Conservative government has ordered a probe into the shipment of body bags to aboriginal communities preparing to fight the H1N1 pandemic.

?What happened is unacceptable. It was insensitive and offensive,? said Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq, adding she is particularly offended as an aboriginal.

The controversy raged in the House of Commons, where Opposition MPs pounded the government?s ?callous? move. Liberal MP Todd Russell accused the Minister of ?shameful incompetence.?

?What message does it send a person, their people and their community when the government will not send medicine but will send body bags?? he asked.

Anita Neville said the incident underscores the government?s neglect of aboriginal communities, where people often live with poor water quality in overcrowded, mouldy homes.

The controversy erupted as the first major outbreak of H1N1 of the new flu season hit remote communities in Vancouver Island. Health experts have warned the virus thrives when people are living in impoverished, crowded conditions with poor sanitation.

Assembly of First Nations Chief Shawn Atleo called Aglukkaq?s response to the body bag gaffe a ?reasonable first step? but urged the minister to consult with aboriginal leaders on a full pandemic response plan.
 
Re: Flu prep: Ottawa ships body bags to northern Manitoba reserves

We, First Nations are under siege.

First Nations people get the message. Our new elected Canadian Chief village is the one where H1N1 outbreak occurs.

Coincidence my ash

Denounced by the UN for refusing to sign the Autochtones, Aboriginal rights.

It is obvious, we need help, Humanitarian Solidarity.

Snowy Owl
 
Re: Flu prep: Ottawa ships body bags to northern Manitoba reserves

Swine flu update to follow body bag fiascoSource: CBC News

Posted: 09/19/09 8:58AM

Canada's health minister will issue an update Saturday on the federal government's plan for preparing First Nations communities to fight swine flu.

Leona Aglukkaq will be joined by Indian Affairs Minister Chuck Strahl and Assembly of First Nations National Chief Shawn Atleo in Ottawa.

It's expected they'll outline a plan for regular meetings between government staff and aboriginal leaders.

Their efforts follow a tense week for aboriginal communities.

Several First Nations groups protested in Winnipeg on Wednesday night after Health Canada sent a shipment of body bags, hand sanitizers and face masks to remote reserves in northern Manitoba.

Aboriginal leaders called the move insensitive.

The federal Health Department issued a statement late Thursday afternoon saying its officials "regret the alarm this incident has caused."

A Health Department spokesman said the shipment was part of "routine restocking" and not linked solely to a potential new wave of H1N1 flu.


http://news.aol.ca/article/swine-flu-update-to-follow-body-bag-fiasco/708772/
 
Re: Flu prep: Ottawa ships body bags to northern Manitoba reserves

Body bag probe found no 'ill will': Aglukkaq

Last Updated: Wednesday, October 7, 2009 | 1:37 PM CTNews
(Sean Kilpatrick/Canadian Press)

An investigation into the recent shipment of body bags to remote First Nations communities has found Health Canada made a "clear overestimation" of the need in some cases, Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq said Wednesday.

The probe, conducted by a deputy minister in the federal department, centred on the Wasagamack First Nation in northern Manitoba, which was shocked when about 30 body bags arrived in September, along with a shipment of hand sanitizer and face masks.

Remote aboriginal communities are thought to be at greater risk of contracting serious cases of H1N1, commonly known as swine flu, because residents have built up less immunity to viruses circulating in more densely populated areas.

Aglukkaq said during a briefing Wednesday that so many bags were shipped to Wasagamack because the nursing station there had sent an estimate of what it needed and Health Canada officials did not question the estimate.

"The nurses in these isolated communities are required to deliver primary health care, emergency care around the clock, and act as community liaison for Health Canada," she said. "These nurses live in their communities, and they are in the best position to assess the needs for medical supplies in their community and their nursing stations.

"In his investigation, the deputy minister found that the order for Wasagamack was disproportionately high compared with other First Nations. It was a clear overestimation and no evidence of ill will or deliberate calculation."

Aglukkaq said Health Canada will change its procurement procedures as a result of the incident.

Earlier, Jim Wolfe, Health Canada's director of First Nations and Inuit Health for Manitoba, had accepted responsibility for the overshipment, saying nursing stations in communities that can be cut off by severe winter weather had been asked to stock up on three or four months' worth of supplies in case of an H1N1 outbreak.

Chief scorns report

David Harper, Grand Chief of the Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak (MKO), an organization that represents most First Nations communities in northern Manitoba, said the report downplays the incident.

He also denied statements made in the report that body bags were sent to only one community. He said the bags also arrived in God's River First Nation.

"Nobody's blown this thing out of proportion," he said about the First Nations' frustration over the incident. "It happened. We're still asking for [flu kit] resources. We're still being denied those resources."

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/manitoba/s...swine-flu-body-bags-first-nation.html?ref=rss
 
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