A Safe Place to Be Heard

In the new health system, everyone deserves to feel safe, respected, and treated fairly. The Ombudsperson Office will be here to help make sure that happens.

This office will be independent. That will mean it will not report to any service provider or government body. Its only job will be to protect the rights of NAN community members and help ensure the health system works the way it should, for everyone.

What Will the Ombudsperson Do?

The Ombudsperson Office will:

  • Listen to complaints and concerns about health services
  • Investigate problems such as racism, mistreatment, or poor-quality care
  • Recommend solutions to improve services and accountability
  • Report openly to the Health Finance & Administration Body and to NAN communities
  • Work with health regulators to support high standards of professional care

Why It Will Matter

Too many of our people have been ignored or mistreated by the health system. The Ombudsperson Office will give our communities a place to speak up and see real change take place.

This office will not be about punishment. It will be about making things better.

Built on Trust and Accountability

This will be a new kind of system. One where your voice will matter, your concerns will be taken seriously, and there will be a clear path to fixing what is not working.

We will be building a system where people will not just be patients, they will be partners. And partners will deserve to be heard.

Voices of our Health Directors

We heard our Health Directors:

  • NAN First Nation Members face racism and discrimination
  • They are disempowered to advocate for NAN community members
  • They feel helpless against colonial health institutions
  • They see gaps in the healthcare system
  • Elders are continually mistreated in home care

Next Steps

There is an evident need for an ombudsperson office with the authority that it can hear First Nation and federal related complaints in a culturally safe environment.

Ombudspersons offices are created through provincial or federal legislation. A First Nation-led ombudsperson office, without legislation, may determine its own scope, but it will rely heavily on partnerships to execute it’s mandates.

The First Nation-led ombudsperson’s office would be authorized through the First Nation leadership and operate primarily on-reserve while recognizing and acknowledging that First Nations people carry their rights wherever they go.

Further engagement with First Nation leadership and communities will be essential and ongoing for all areas of a potential ombudsperson office including scope, authority, governance, operations, design and capacity.