Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs Rally

This past week the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs held a rally in the Manitoba Legislature. Chiefs of the AMC gathered for a peaceful rally to protest recent funding cuts to First Nations healthcare.

More than 400 people marched from the offices of the federal government's First Nations and Inuit Health Branch to the Manitoba Legislature. I had the opportunity to speak to the rally. Below is a video clip of part of my presentation. To watch, just click on the image:



First Nations people are facing a great deal of obstacles in getting timely healthcare. Diabetes has grown to epidemic proportions in aboriginal communities and the AMC also noted that aboriginal communities have significantly higher rates of tuberculosis (8-10 times that of the Canadian average) and Hepatitis A (5 times that of the Canadian average).

For reasons only known to them, Gary Doer’s NDP has neglected First Nation communities and the NDP's current practice of pointing the finger at the federal government is not helping at all. First Nations can no longer have their health care needs put on the government's backburner. Manitoba needs to stick up for the rights of Manitoba First Nations. We need to put the health of the First Nations communities first, and worry about how to divide up the funding afterward.