Ottawa to spend $1.2-billion on hospital for First Nations in Northern Ontario, after weeks of pressure

The federal government says it will spend $1.2-billion to replace an aging hospital serving First Nations in Ontario’s North, after weeks of pressure from Indigenous leaders and the province to make good on a previous funding commitment.

Indigenous Services Minister Patty Hajdu announced Monday that Ottawa will invest $1.2-billion to replace the aging Weeneebayko General Hospital in Moose Factory, Ont., which is in a state of disrepair. The funding will go toward the construction of a new hospital facility in Moosonee, Ont., administrative offices, staff accommodations and a dedicated ambulatory care centre on Moose Factory Island. Ms. Hajdu said the new facility will serve the 12,000 people in the Weeneebayko region.

“I’m really thrilled to announced the federal government will support Ontario with funds to fund a new hospital built in Moosonee,” Ms. Hajdu said.

The federal government said the money will flow through the province and the Weeneebayko Area Health Authority. Ms. Hajdu said her government has already spent $200-million on the project since 2018.

Ms. Hajdu said the project was supported by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau “who felt very fervently” that it needed to be completed.

At an announcement in Moosonee on Monday, Ontario Health Minister Sylvia Jones also announced an additional $44-million for design and early construction of the new hospital, in addition to previous funding announcements.

The current facility is the oldest unrenovated hospital in Canada, Ms. Jones said. “This does not mean the advocacy for this project ends today,” she said.

First Nations leaders, hospital chief executives and the Ontario government had warned that a lack of funding in the federal budget for the much-needed hospital was putting the project at risk. Late last month, the Weeneebayko Area Health Authority called on Ottawa to make good on its promise to provide funding for the new health campus to replace the 75-year-old hospital.

WAHA, a First Nation regional health authority located on the west coast of James Bay in northern Ontario, was looking for funding in the budget tabled in April. But it found no financial commitment within the fiscal blueprint.

The cost of the redevelopment project is pegged at $2.7-billion, according to WAHA and the Ontario government. The province is putting up $1.36-billion, while Ottawa was expected to spend $1.34-billion, according to WAHA.

At an announcement in Ottawa alongside Ms. Hajdu on Monday, Assembly of First Nations National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak said the funding marks “a significant step forward” to fulfill a longstanding commitment. She said it was a “hard-fought battle” and said it’s the right of First Nations to have the same services as other Canadians.

“We know that many First Nations people do not have equitable or reasonable access to health care services compared to the general Canadian population,” she said.

Chief Peter Wesley of Moose Cree First Nation said the current hospital, which is 75 years old, poses a severe health risk.

“This new investment means we can rebuild,” he said in a statement Monday. “We are grateful that Canada, as our treaty partner, is committed to seeing the redevelopment project through, which will significantly improve healthcare services crucial to our community’s wellbeing.”

NDP MP Charlie Angus, along with leader Jagmeet Singh and NDP Indigenous services critic Lori Idlout, also wrote a letter to Mr. Trudeau to express their “deep disappointment” in the government’s decision “to walk away on a commitment to build a proper hospital in the James Bay region.”

The lack of federal dollars for the new health campus came as a surprise. In 2007, Ottawa signed an agreement to fund 45 per cent of capital costs to build a new health campus, including a hostel, staff housing, an eldercare centre and a new hospital in Moosonee and acute care centre on Moose Factory Island.

Lynne Innes, CEO of WAHA, said in May that there was no indication Ottawa would not fulfill its part of the agreement during regular tripartite meetings between the federal government, the government of Ontario and Weeneebayko health officials.

She said contracts have been recently awarded and some construction has begun and that funding was expected this year.

On X, Ms. Jones shared a letter on May 14 to the federal government expressing her disappointment in its failure to support the development and inviting the federal Minister of Health and the Minister of Indigenous Services Canada to visit the existing facility with her on Monday.

In response to calls to provide federal funding, Ms. Hajdu previously placed the onus on Ontario to ensure the new health campus was built.

“Look, we have supported Ontario with billions of dollars of transfers to improve health for all Ontarians,” she told reporters last month. “We’ll continue to help them in meeting those responsibilities.”

In response to Ms. Hajdu’s comments, Hannah Jensen, a spokesperson for Ms. Jones, said the federal minister is “fully aware that this is not about the provincial-federal health deal” but this issue is “exclusively about the federal government failing to uphold their responsibility” and that Ottawa was putting “the future of this project at risk.”