UNDRIP, child welfare, health care top topics at premiers’ meeting in B.C.

For the first time since the start of the pandemic, Canada’s 13 premiers are meeting face-to-face as the Council of the Federation convenes in Victoria, B.C. While health care is top of mind, as usual, Indigenous rights and child welfare are also high on the agenda.

Regional chief of the BC Assembly of First Nations Terry Teegee says a key lesson from here to share with the rest of the country is that being the first to bring the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People  (UNDRIP) into legislation didn’t bring down the province.

“The sun came up the next day,” he said.

He believes provincial governments and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau need to understand what UNDRIP means to Indigenous peoples.

“The assertion of their sovereignty and self determination,” Teegee explained. “I think that’s an important lesson that we can share, from the British Columbia experience between myself and the premier, in terms of why it’s so important. Such things as UNDRIP can be utilized on all levels of government.”

Read more: Ottawa’s share of health-care funding to be top concern at premiers’ meeting in B.C.

The meeting of the premiers on Tuesday will focus on health care and securing a greater share of funding from the federal government. B.C. Premier John Horgan, who is hosting the meeting, says this has been at the top of his agenda since he began sitting at the Council of the Federation five years ago.

“What we need is a commitment of $2 billion, and then $2 billion, and then $2 billion — on through time. Not ‘Here’s some money for now, best of luck.’ It’s not getting better. It’s getting worse,” Horgan said.

With health care worker recruitment and retention a challenge across the country, Horgan says “that notion of poaching is part and parcel of what we’ll be discussing.”

He adds more foreign credentials need to be recognized in Canada at a faster pace.

“I think most Canadians … if I was to sit down at the kitchen table and talk about the challenges of having foreign health credentials recognized in British Columbia, or in Alberta, or in Manitoba, people will be horrified.”

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A group representing emergency room doctors across the country wants premiers to come up with a coordinated plan to prevent their workplaces from being closed due to staffing shortages.

“We’ve been sounding the alarm about shortages of physicians and nurses for quite some time,” said Dr. Atul Kapur, a spokesperson for the Canadian Association of Emergency Physicians.

Kapur adds the temporary closure of ERs is particularly troubling in rural areas because the next closest emergency room is often far away.

One of the biggest gaps in the health-care system is the lack of nurses, according to Kapur, who is an ER doctor in Ottawa.

“We recognize that our nursing colleagues are vital, that in (emergency) especially, the stresses on them are even more than they are on us because they bear more of the brunt of patient and family anger than we do.”

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Data from the Canadian Institute for Health Information shows admitted patients across Canada waited 38.3 hours in emergency rooms in 2019-2020, up from 29.3 hours five years earlier. The total number of visits spiked to nearly 1.6 million during that time, up from just over 1.1 million.

The figures apply to 90 per cent of patients, and Kapur said 10 per cent waited even longer.

For his part, Horgan warns it will take a lot of work to fill the health care gaps.

“This will not be solved by the waving of a wand. It’ll be solved by hard work and relationship building.”

This year is Horgan’s last as chair of the organization of Canada’s premiers, as he announced two weeks ago he will step aside after a new leader of the governing BC NDP is elected later this year.

With files from Mike Lloyd and The Canadian Press