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As the Quebec government continues to promote budgetary rigour, a group of Native Friendship Centres in the province says it has yet to get a clear response on whether they will see funding for their Indigenous health clinics<\/a> renewed.<\/p>\n Their concern echoes the findings of a Quebec ombudsman report<\/a> released earlier this month that said budgetary restrictions could lead to setbacks in implementing the recommendations from the province\u2019s Viens Commission<\/a>, which looked into the mistreatment of Indigenous people in Quebec \u2014 including the calls to action that concern health care.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was denounced in the Viens Commission, that we\u2019re always obliged to justify the need [for funding],\u201d Tanya Sirois, general manager of the Regroupement des centres d’amiti\u00e9 autochtones du Qu\u00e9bec, said in an interview. <\/p>\n \u201cAt this moment, in 2025, I feel an exasperation on the Quebec government\u2019s part to want to meet its responsibility toward urban Indigenous populations.\u201d<\/p>\n Native Friendship Centres in the province have partnered with local health authorities to ensure Indigenous patients gain access to services that take their realities into account and that serve them in the language of their choosing.<\/p>\n \u201cIndigenous health clinics offer psychosocial services, physical health services, [medical exams] to prevent illnesses, follow-ups for pregnancies,\u201d said Sirois.\u00a0<\/p>\n But without knowing just how much funding they will receive for the coming year, she says it\u2019s becoming increasingly difficult to plan for staffing in the clinics and to expand their services.<\/p>\n \u201cDecember is right around the corner and there is no money yet that\u2019s made its way [to us] on the ground,\u201d she said. “From April up until now, we have been functioning without funding.” <\/p>\n Indigenous issues as ‘flavour of the day’<\/p>\n As highlighted in the ombudsman report, funding for Quebec\u2019s five-year J\u2019ai espoir program, which focused on implementing recommendations from the Viens Commission, has come to an end.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cFunding of the urban Indigenous health clinics remains uncertain, which threatens the sustainability of the specialized care and support offered to the Indigenous populations living in urban settings,\u201d the report tabled by ombudsman Marc-Andr\u00e9 Dowd states.<\/p>\n Sirois accuses the Quebec government of seeing Indigenous issues as the \u201cflavour of the day,\u201d only increasing funding for programs when tragedies occur.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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