Reaffirming the Priority of Our Peoples Health and Wellbeing Tabled

Reaffirming the Priority of Our Peoples Health and Wellbeing

WHEREAS, as Indigenous people we have the fundamental right to the highest standards of health and wellbeing of our communities;

WHEREAS, our ancestors entered into Treaty No. 9 with the understanding that the happiness and prosperity of our people was a shared priority of the Crown and our Treaty Chiefs;

WHEREAS, the health and wellbeing of our people has always been a fundamental priority for our First Nations;

WHEREAS, our Treaty and Aboriginal rights to health have not been respected by the federal and provincial Crown who are our Treaty partners and have responsibilities as such;

WHEREAS, the Mushkegowuk Council of Chiefs have, since 1990, consistently affirmed that the -health and wellbeing of our people is a fundamental concern of the First

WHEREAS, in 2007, the Fort Albany First Nation, Kashechewan First Nation, Attawapiskat First Nation, Weenusk First Nation, the town of Moosonee and the Federal and Provincial governments signed the Weeneebayko Area Health Integration Framework Agreement (WAHi FA) with the

goal that it would benefit our people and improve their health and wellbeing;

WHEREAS, the WAHi FA has not met our goals, our peoples' health continues to decline, and significant concerns have been expressed with regards to health governance under the WAHi FA including the Weeneebayko Area Health Authority (WAHA);

WHEREAS, Moose Cree First Nation is not a signatory to WAHi FA and has been engaged in bilateral health discussions with Canada about a Treaty-based approach to revitalizing health care governance and services and nothing in this Resolution is meant to prelude or prejudice those discussions;

WHEREAS, in 2015, the Mushkegowuk Council of Chiefs passed Resolution No. 2015-01-21 that reaffirmed past resolutions and set out a series of concrete actions to improve the health and wellbeing of our people;

WHEREAS, this Assembly of Chiefs wishes to reaffirm our commitment to Resolution No. 2015-01-21 and provide our support for a Treaty-based approach to health;

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED THAT the Chiefs and Delegates of this Assembly of Chiefs reaffirm and clearly proclaim that the health needs of our people are a fundamental concern of the Mushkegowuk First Nations;

IT IS FURTHER RESOLVED THAT we reaffirm the commitments in Resolution No. 2015-01-21, including by:

Reaffirming the fundamental priority of working to improve health programs for the people in our Mushkegowuk territory, including working with the WAHA Board and the federal and provincial governments;

Reaffirming the need to work to replace the present WAHIFA with an agreement that is under the real control of the Chiefs and the Mushkegowuk people and that is based on our rights and identity as Treaty people;

Reaffirming the past resolutions that the new hospital be located on Moose Factory Island and on federal or First Nation lands; and

Reaffirming our strong desire to formally include Moose Cree First Nation as a partner with other Mushkegowuk First Nations in health agreements;

Reaffirming our strong desire to include all Mushkegowuk First Nations as members of any health agreements, as members of the Mushkegowuk Nation; and

Reaffirming the need to include all people in our Mushkegowuk territory in our health system.

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