Mr. Chair, I have never enjoyed the opportunity to serve as the Minister for Health and Social Services, but I am sure there are opportunities to make changes to the way in which we provide health and social services to our people, whether they are treaty, Metis or just citizens of Canada, citizens of the Northwest Territories.
As I said earlier, there is a report made to the Minister. There was a forum set up to look at health and social services. As new Members we have not had an opportunity to look at it. I think there was a lot of input from our communities, our front- line workers, to make suggestions on how we can make things better in health and social services. We have never had an opportunity to discuss that. I have had input from my constituency who organized the Sahtu communities to provide input into this forum. The report is there. We just need to take time as Members of the Legislature, new Cabinet and Premier to sit together to look at it and decide what can be done.
Historically, there has been a disparity about the way aboriginal people have been treated. Metis people are treated differently from treaty people. Inuit have been treated different. No one denies that. I do know the federal government has a policy on treaty people that they say was implemented not because of treaty or constitutional obligations but because they are benevolent because aboriginal people were dying from disease and poverty. So they, as a benevolent government, instituted health care coverage for treaty people in the south. That is the official federal position. The position of First Nations is we have given up lands and resources in this place that is now called Canada, for certain assurances and provisions. One of them is that our health will always be covered. That is the official position of First Nations people across this country.
People know that aboriginal people were not allowed to vote until very recently. Everybody else was allowed to. On the other hand, you have this health policy. We were not allowed to have jobs or to hold certain occupations until 1957. I raise this not to say whatever disparity there is, is justified, but to say we are trying to correct these things. People are not asking for handouts but people are saying we should be accorded recognition for our rights.
People are trying to correct that, but I do not think we are there yet. I agree, if it was possible we should provide the same health care to all treaty people as we do to everyone else. It is also true some companies and the government itself provides better health coverage than to ordinary citizens. If you are working you get better coverage. If you work for big companies you get really big coverage. So there are discrepancies. If there are ways to make sure that everybody is treated as equitably as possible, we have to look at it. I agree there should not be discrimination and the type of disparities that appear to exist. It is not right. It does not provide for good accord among citizens and it should be looked at. Thank you.