OTTAWA – New Democrat MPs are calling on the Harper government to support sustaining funding for the Aboriginal Diabetes Initiative and other First Nations diabetes treatments in the wake of the sad case of Marvin Blackbird, who was denied critical diabetes care because he lives on the Keeseekoowenin Reserve in Manitoba.

“Canadians don’t believe lines on a map should dictate who has access to affordable health care. Universal, portable drug coverage is a must, but the Harper government won’t act. It’s when we get down to the personal level that the tragedy of that inaction becomes most obvious,” said New Democrat Health Critic Judy Wasylycia-Leis (Winnipeg North).

“The health deficit in First Nations communities is profound and unacceptable. Yet, this Conservative government, like those before it, continues to fail.”

Mr. Blackbird’s urgent need underlines the problems with diabetes care for First Nations, Inuit and Métis people across Canada, who are three to five times more likely to develop the disease and at a much younger age than the general population.

“With the Aboriginal Diabetes Initiative funding coming to an end this year, this case highlights the need to keep that funding flowing,” points out Aboriginal Health Issues Critic Carol Hughes (Algoma-Manitoulin-Kapuskasing). “It is also important to look at more proactive means of helping these people, such as drug therapy instead of waiting until someone ends up in a hospital.”

Too many First Nations are forced to leave their homes because Health Canada offers a different standard of care than the province they live in. New Democrat Aboriginal Affairs Critic Jean Crowder (Nanaimo-Cowichan) says she hears from many families wondering why their residence on a reserve means less access to services.

“Once we passed Jordan’s Principle, that said when a child was in need of care, that child should receive the care and then governments or departments could argue over who pays the bill, I started receiving calls from across Canada saying the situation with children was the tip of the iceberg,” said Crowder. “For almost any social service you can think of - health care, child welfare, long term care for the elderly- people on reserves do not get the same level of care as other people living in the same province. When it comes to drug therapies that could keep people healthy and out of hospital, it just doesn’t make sense, ethically or economically to have this two tiered health care system.”