OTTAWA — Newly minted Indigenous Services Minister Jane Philpott says her new department will likely include the delivery of health services for First Nations and Inuit — an area previously under her watch at Health Canada. She also said the current federal approach — dividing Indigenous health care and the delivery of other social services that drive health outcomes — is an “artificial separation”, while the new department affords an opportunity to bring this all under one roof. “Health services fits very strongly in with other social determinants like education and child care and so many other issues that will be under the portfolio,” Philpott said. NAN Grand Chief Alvin Fiddler said he is pleased to see a new federal department is being created, adding he wants to see it do business differently. “Minister Philpott has a great a chance to impact health disparities positively, as early politicians had to completely dismantle the health systems that existed in our Indigenous communities,” he said.

Source: National Post August 31, 2017 07:52 UTC