by Margo Little  

SUDBURY-Community workers from Manitoulin were among many who voiced concern over the erosion of local mental health service provision during a Sudbury conference devoted to mental health issues in Aboriginal communities on October 26-28.  

Although the conference delegates assembled for professional development purposes, they could not ignore the political tug-of-war raging around them. An ongoing feud between North Bay and Sudbury agencies is having a ripple effect in outlying communities.  

Dissent has been growing among frontline workers ever since the Harris government dismantled the Network North community clinic model in 1998. A body known as the Health Services Restructuring Commission combined community based mental health services in North Bay and Sudbury. A new entity, the Northeast Mental Health Centre, was created with a regional governance approach.  

Recently opponents of the regional model have become more vocal in their opposition. Prominent Sudbury psychiatrist Dr. Rayudu Koka joined members of the lobby group Mental Health Advocates at a Greater Sudbury council meeting October 13. Because of his outspoken stance on erosion of local mental health services, Dr. Koka was fired as chief of staff by the NEMHC board October 22.  

Leaders of social service agencies and politicians have rallied around Dr. Koka and are calling for his re-instatement. He has received widespread support for his campaign to restore local control to mental health services.  

Sheshegwaning First Nation wellness worker, Joe Laford, expressed appreciation for Dr. Koka's philosophy. He noted that Dr. Koka has been very open to experimenting with traditional and non-traditional approaches to mental health. "He has been very co-operative with local mental health workers," he said.

 "I am totally disappointed with the treatment of Dr. Koka," Mr. Laford said. "If they (NEMHC) continue to treat their physicians that way, they will lose a lot of good people."

In his view, "Dr. Koka understands the needs of the First Nations communities. "His views on mental health mesh with our own. We believe that a client has the capacity to heal himself. The mental health worker is there to open the door for the person and to give him choices so that he can see there is a better way."  

Mr. Laford was one of the original directors of the NEMHC but resigned in frustration after six months on the board. He predicts the eventual demise of the regional model. He supports a return to the previous system that operated under Network North. "It was truly a model of excellence; it put the community first," he said.  

In the end, he concluded that the NEMHC would never fulfill its mandate to provide Native mental health services.  

"I resigned because I saw that I couldn't make changes. Nobody wanted to hear what I was saying. I felt totally powerless because I saw the deterioration of frontline services. It was very discouraging," he said.  

Dr. Koka's colleague, Dr. Brenda Restoule, is equally critical of the current level of services. As a psychological services consultant for Wikwemikong Unceded Reserve, Nipissing and Whitefish Lake First Nations, she has observed the community needs first-hand.  

"A reduction in funding has led to a reduction in resources," she confirmed after delivering a mental health promotion workshop on October 28. "Community needs are not being met by the NEMHC."  

In her view, Dr. Koka has been raising some very valid points about the drawbacks of regional governance. "A lot of people feel that if we had more local control, there would be more ability to utilize resources to meet community needs," she pointed out. "The NEMHC has identified Native mental health as a priority but they haven't contributed any resources to them. The community feels the commitment has been minimal."  

Dr. Restoule confirms that she might have to curtail her services even more in the future. Currently she visits Wikwemikong 12 days a month, Nipissing nine or 10 days a month and Whitefish Lake one day a month.  

"Communities would prefer an increase in specialized resources for First Nations," she said. "The resources are just not accessible for us right now. There's a high demand for services and the lack of funding makes if difficult."

 "Just what level of service we will have in the future is unknown," she said. "Whatever happens it will potentially affect all First Nations communities."

 Approximately 175 wellness workers including some from the United States took part in the educational workshops.

 The conference was held at the Howard Johnson Hotel and sponsored by Shkagamik-Kwe Health Centre, Za-geh-do-win Clearinghouse, Mnaamodzawin Health Services, Mamaweswen North Shore Tribal Council and the Union of Ontario Indians.   

RideShare for kids' transportation expands to Manitoulin, seeks drivers  

by Jim Moodie  

MANITOULIN-While urban centres get an infusion of gas tax money from the province to support their public transportation systems, many families in the widepread rural communites of Manitoulin (which won't be getting a gas tax kickback) have neither a car nor an alternative method of transportation.  

RideShare, a free transportation service that originated in Sudbury and is expanding to Manitoulin, may help in this regard. Charlene Corbiere of M'Chigeeng, resource consultant for Child Care Resources in Sudbury, has been contracted to promote and develop the program on Manitoulin.  

"It's a transportation service for children and families of children between the ages of zero and six," Ms. Corbiere explains, adding that the program is also designed for expectant mothers. "If you have a medical appointment or are going to a recreational activity, you contact an agency that has an agreement with RideShare, and they'll arrange a ride for you from a volunteer driver."

 Ms. Corbiere notes that while the drivers aren't paid, "they are compensated for their kilometres of travel." Those eligible to make use of the program are not expected to pay anything. Funding for RideShare comes from the provincial and federal governments.  

At the moment, Ms. Corbiere is trying to recruit volunteer drivers as well as encourage Island agencies and organizations to act as referral points the program. "It could be the local health unit, or a township or band office," says Ms. Corbiere. "If someone requests transportation, they would fax the request to the RideShare office in Sudbury, and RideShare then contacts a volunteer driver."  

Ms. Corbiere acknowledges that some transportation services already exist on Manitoulin. First Nations, for instance, generally have an individual whose role is to arrange rides to medical appointments for band members, and the Victorian Order of Nurses (VON) also provides transportation to hospitals and doctors' offices.  

RideShare wouldn't replace those services, but complement and expand them. "What we're trying to do is link up with the transportation programs that are already in existence and fill the gaps," says Ms. Corbiere. She notes that the service provided by the VON is "more for the elderly, whereas RideShare is more for families with young children. So it's a different clientele, but we can share drivers."  

While medical appointments represent the most obvious instance in which a person without their own means of transportation or money for a cab fare would qualify for a lift through RideShare, the program also exists to help children attend a recreational or cultural activity. "It could be a ride to a community event or a hockey practice," notes Ms. Corbiere.  

The child care consultant has distributed posters promoting the program on the Island, but so far has only had one person volunteer as a driver. Ms. Corbiere welcomes this offer, but says "the Island is such a large land base that you can't ask one person to be the sole driver."  

Retired individuals are the obvious "target audience" in recruiting volunteer drivers, as they are generally more available, admits Ms. Corbiere, however anyone who has some time to spare and a clean driver's record is welcome to offer their chauffeur services.  

"And if there are already established volunteer drivers (through other organizations), they're welcome to join up with RideShare, too, because they may not always be busy," says Ms. Corbiere.  

Asked how she became involved in spearheading the development of RideShare on Manitoulin, Ms. Corbiere explained that she learned of the service through her role with Child Care Resources, which utilizes the program in Sudbury.  

"It piqued my interest, knowing that transportation is such an issue on Manitoulin," she says, adding, "when I worked as a CHR (community health representative) in M'Chigeeng, we were always looking for transportation. So when I heard that they wanted to bring RideShare to the Island, I thought, great, it's something we need. I personally wanted to get it going here."  

Ms. Corbiere has been contracted for four months to develop the service on Manitoulin, but says that "the sooner we can get it up and running, the better."  

And she stresses again that the service won't supplant the transportation services already in place, but merely add to them. "We're not trying to reinvent the wheel," she says.

RideShare may not be trying to reinvent the wheel, but it would certainly provide more wheels to more people-young children in particular-who require them to reach appointments and events.  

Those interested in volunteering to be a driver for the RideShare program, or acting as a referral agency, are encouraged to contact Ms. Corbiere at 377-6099. 

MTA president encouraged by response to water concerns

by Michael Erskine  

BRACEBRIDGE-If age and experience count for anything, the report of the Advisory Council on Drinking Water Quality and Testing Standards will carry more weight than most government committees when it finally arrives on the Minister of the Environment's desk.  

"I was very impressed with the quality of the panel members," said Manitoulin Tourism Association President Bill Ferguson, of Honora Bay. "They were all over 60, and they all had strong backgrounds in environmental things. I think one of them is even currently a Medical Officer of Health. The youngest guy there even worked at the fish station in South Baymouth."  

It was more than the age and experience of the three-person panel that met the Island delegation that really impressed Mr. Ferguson, however. It was the attitude of the panel members themselves.  

"We had a 45-minute presentation similar to the one we gave the MMA (Manitoulin Municipal Association, which endorsed the mission last month)," he said. "They had a lot of questions for us after that, and they kept us at it for over an hour."  

The key elements of the recommendations presented by the MTA delegation were: to move water testing of drinking water systems at small resorts back under the auspices of the Ministry of Health, where it once resided, rather than under the Ministry of Environment (who, Mr. Ferguson points out, where the agency in charge when the Walkerton fiasco developed); to have the Ministry of Health pick up the tab for testing costs; and to remove the requirement for an engineer's stamp on the water system, a requirement that often costs more than the system itself.  

"The panel kept coming back to our recommendation to have the regulatory body changed to the Ministry of Health," noted Mr. Ferguson.

 The committee advised a change in attitude would also be in order.

 "Instead of concentrating so much on policing the regulations, they should be concentrating their efforts on trying to help people implement them," said Mr. Ferguson.

The advisory council has a mandate to: "review scientific and technical documentation of proposed standards; consult and provide feedback to the public; undertake additional consultation to clarify and address issues; and consider and make recommendations on adopting standards for contaminants that are not currently being considered through the federal-provincial process for developing Canada-wide drinking water guidelines."  

In meeting this mandate the advisory council will first focus on the following priorities: "replacing the total coliform test with an E. coli test; the desirability of a turbidity limit that is lower than the limit specified in the federal-provincial guidelines; treatment standards for protozoa based on source water quality; and reviewing Ontario's standards for disinfection by-products."  

The advisory council is the province's attempt to implement six recommendations (recommendations 25 to 29 and 31) regarding an advisory council and standards made by Commissioner O'Connor in Part II of the Walkerton Inquiry Report.  

Whatever the recommendations the advisory committee makes, Mr. Ferguson anticipates that the already twice-delayed implementation deadline will have to be extended again if the committee is to have any credibility.  

It's a question of time frame, he noted.