“If this worsens or spreads in our communities, we, the Dene people of the Far North, will hold the provincial government responsible and will seek legal action,” she said. “They should have done better.”

These statements didn’t sit well with La Ronge’s Dr. Sean Groves who took to Twitter to voice his frustration. He wrote it was “sad to see northern leaders using COVID-19 as an excuse to play politics and attempt to victim blame health care workers.”

“The threat of legal action against the province and Saskatchewan Health Authority is both disappointing and disturbing,” Groves posted.

larongeNOW reached out to Mercredi and Sayazie for comment, but both were unavailable. Groves declined to comment.

In an interview with larongeNOW, FSIN Second Vice-Chief David Pratt said the purpose of the media release was meant to pressure the provincial government to increase testing and send more protective equipment to northern communities. He added there are some swabs available in the North, but they need to be sent away for testing.

“There was good news yesterday,” Pratt said. “The federal government announced that a new testing kit is available that gives results back in an hour. Our hope is they can mass produce those testing kits, so we can get them to the First Nations particularly in the North.”

In regards to comments by Groves, Pratt said if he was living in an isolated community with sometimes three generations living in a single household, his attitude would likely be different.

“We want to make sure the health authority is testing the nurses before they go in, but also there is testing available in the communities, so they can test themselves if they start feeling under the weather,” Pratt said. “Speaking from that protective perspective in terms of wanting to ensure the best protection for their people, I think their position is completely understandable.”

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derek.cornet@jpbg.ca

Twitter: @saskjourno