Birdtail chief eager to work with incoming government

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This article was published 09/09/2019 (2434 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Regardless of who wins Tuesday’s election, Birdtail Sioux First Nation Chief Ken Chalmers said he looks forward to working with them.

Together, he said that he wants to foster reconciliation and push for economic growth in both his community and the broader region.

Riding Mountain has been a Progressive Conservative constituency for many years, Chalmers said, and the First Nation has had a successful working relationship with incumbent Greg Nesbitt.

“In business and economic development I find the conservative party very helpful,” he said. “We’re (Birdtail) trying to make our own revenue and look after ourselves.”

However, if the NDP take power in the election, he expects to have a similar relationship.

Every party he has met with is “on the same page” in regards to the allocation of money and support the province can offer the Birdtail nation, along with their place in the local and provincial economy.

“There’s so much potential in this area,” Chalmers said. “Looking at both parties, I can work with all of them.”

The biggest concern in the Birdtail community is access to health care, in particular tackling the methamphetamine crisis. This involves keeping drugs out of the community and providing access to crucial mental health and recovery support systems.

“This methamphetamine is damaging, it’s frightening, it’s everywhere,” he said.

One of the best ways to tackle the issue is to develop and promote economic growth in the nation, with support from the provincial government.

Birdtail has found success with their companies and partnerships in the area, and is using a portion of the revenue raised to help band members in the addictions recovery process.

As part of this, Chalmers said he wants to see greater ease of access to treatment programs, beds, professionals and recovery medications.

Chalmers said that members of his community currently have to travel to Birtle to access the recovery drug Suboxone, or go to Brandon to access Rapid Access to Addictions Medicine beds.

He wants to see Suboxone brought into the community, so people can receive the help they need and spend more time with their families.

Greater mental health supports are also needed, he said, adding that although Birdtail receives some federal funding to help address the mental well-being of band members, it is not enough.

In his experience, he said the nurses and doctors in the Birtle, Russell and Dauphin areas are on the same page in terms of reconciliation and taking on the meth crisis, but that it all comes down to targeting the resources available in the most effective way.

“When we have a crisis in our community we have to take them to the CAP (Centre for Adult Psychiatry) centres in Brandon and transport them back and forth,” Chalmers said. “If we had more mental health workers committed to the First Nation we could solve a lot of problems and the cost would go down.”

Chalmers said that he hopes to see a health clinic placed in the reserve as a way to bring health-care workers into Birdtail, but that it takes time and money to accomplish this.

Mental health workers also need to be in place in the community, he added explaining that they can aid in the recovery process both physically and emotionally.

“It’s a big challenge for chiefs and councils all over Canada,” he said. “That trauma is deep.”

Having a support system of this nature put in place can help foster the younger generation to find success, while healing family members who have suffered from abuse.

“If we create the economic opportunities we’ll have more money to deal with the social issues,” he said. “It’s a tough battle.”

» ckemp@brandonsun.com

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