Medical journey advantages pending for Inuk girl residing in Ontario

Up to date Nov. 8, 2022 at 9:50 a.m.

An Inuk girl who now lives in Ontario hopes to obtain journey advantages to be a medical escort for her mom, despite the fact that Quebec officers initially turned her down final week.

Tauni Sheldon is a James Bay Northern Quebec Settlement beneficiary at the moment residing in Guelph, Ont. She didn’t select to go away the North when she was youthful — on the day she was born in Thunder Bay, Ont., the place her mom Nellie Kumarluk was compelled to go to offer beginning, Sheldon was taken from her as a part of the Sixties Scoop and raised by a household in Ontario.

Regardless of that, Sheldon and her mom have been shut for a very long time so when Kumarluk, 78, not too long ago wanted to hunt most cancers therapy in Montreal, Sheldon was requested by the well being centre in Inukjuak, the place her mom lives, to be her medical escort.

As a Nunavik beneficiary, Sheldon requested journey help via the Nunavik Regional Board of Well being and Social Companies and the Quebec authorities. The request was denied, Sheldon stated, as a result of she lives outdoors Quebec, and she or he has needed to pay the journey prices out of pocket.

“I used to be simply looking for the journey help to get to Montreal to be there, and I used to be denied that,” she stated in an interview on Thursday final week.

“As a result of we reside in Ontario — we’re not in Nunavik and never in Quebec — I used to be advised that if I used to be even in southern Quebec, I’m no less than in Quebec, then I might have the proper to help.”

On Monday, Sheldon advised Nunatsiaq Information in a Fb message she realized she may be reimbursed for her journey prices in any case, however approval is pending.

Nunatsiaq Information emailed the Nunavik well being board with questions concerning the best way it assigns and compensates escorts, in addition to questions on Sheldon’s scenario.

In response, spokesperson Kathleen Poulin referred to the well being board’s Regional Person Transportation Coverage within the Nunavik Area — a 22-page doc that defines escorts and descriptions how sufferers and escorts obtain monetary compensation for housing, transportation and meals.

Primarily based on these pointers, Poulin stated, the well being board is trying into Sheldon’s scenario.

“The well being centre liaison workers proceed to help the individual whereas she escorts her member of the family,” Poulin wrote in an e-mail. “The reimbursement request shall be reviewed, and addressed throughout the limits of the Regional Person Transportation Coverage within the Nunavik Area.”

Sheldon hoped to go away Monday for Montreal to be together with her mom as she seeks the care she wants.

Whereas she’s hopeful she’ll get reimbursed for her flight to Montreal, the place she has lodging at Ullivik lodging facility, Sheldon stated it shouldn’t be so tough for Inuit within the south to obtain the assist she feels they’re entitled to.

To Sheldon, all Inuit no matter the place they reside should be handled equally and never be forgotten by numerous ranges of presidency.

“We’re Inuit regardless of the place we’re, and since I’m not in Nunavik or Quebec I really feel like I’m being punished,” Sheldon stated.

“I spent half my life not desirous to be Inuk, after which I lastly sought out who I’m and the place my household is from. It’s a slap within the face to be excluded; it’s not my fault I ended up in Ontario, and it’s not anyone’s fault the place they find yourself.”

Notice: This story was up to date to notice Tauni Sheldon’s native land