Federal NDP call for more health care services for elders in Nunavut

Federal NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh is calling on the federal government to put more resources toward elder care in Nunavut.

Singh held a news conference Thursday with Nunavut NDP MP Lori Idlout, following meetings with staff and elders at the Larga Baffin boarding home in Ottawa.

Idlout said she and Singh also met with Pairijait Tigummivik, the Iqaluit Elders Society.

"It was quite sad to hear that elders, after all the experience that they've had in their lifetimes ... that there are now elders being forced out of their home communities to live out the rest of their lives, some of them in foreign places like Ottawa," Idlout said.

"That was quite devastating to hear, but we also heard some great some ideas we could help to advocate [for]."

Singh said he saw a "stark contrast" between the people at Larga Baffin, who would stay for a short time and were looking forward to going home, and the stories he's heard from advocates of the sadness and despair experienced by elders who can't go home because their communities don't offer the health services they need.

"We know that there's so much we can do. The stories that we heard compel us to use our platform to say the people of Nunavut, particularly elders, deserve better care," Singh said.

He called for government action on three points: to make significant investments in services to help Nunavummiut to live and age in their home communities; to make more investments into seniors' housing; and to improve conditions for Inuit elders, many of whom only speak Inuktitut, who have to move to Ottawa to receive care.

Missed the livestream? Watch it here:

Questioned by Singh in the House of Commons later Thursday, Northern Affairs Minister Dan Vandal defended the government's commitment to improving services in Nunavut.

"Health care is one of the priorities that's first on our schedule," he said, adding the government is investing millions of dollars in health care in the North.

The issue is a long-standing one in Nunavut, forcing elders and people with chronic health needs to leave their home and move to Ottawa or elsewhere in the country to get the treatment they need.

Recently, the plight of elders separated from their families have sparked petitions, protests and fundraisers. 

Elder care was named the top priority for Nunavut's new government.