Jordan’s Principal cases are backlogging in Eeyou Istchee, which may make it more difficult to obtain funding for sports and recreation.
Jordan’s Principle currently has over 140,000 cases backlogged across Canada. For the Cree in Eeyou Istchee, this will mean prioritizing urgent cases.
“We are [backlogged] but not as not as bad as the rest of Canada,” said Arnaituk Gagnon-Auclair, who works for the Cree health board and is the lead in Jordan’s Principle for cases from Eeyou Istchee. “We’re about two months behind, which technically is one of the best in the country. But eight weeks is still a long time.”
Jordan’s Principle provides funding for health, social, and education services for Indigenous children and youth where such supports are lacking.
“It’s important for Eeyou Istchee to have Jordan’s Principle [for] children having access to public services that they need,” said Gagnon-Auclair.
The most common requests coming from Eeyou Istchee are for services such as speech therapy or funds to add an extra escort for medical travel for specialized services down south, said Gagnon-Auclair.
288 approved cases came from Eeyou Istchee in the past year, according to Gagnon-Auclair.
“If it’s something urgent, you can get a response within 48 hours. It all depends on the level of urgency that it has,” said Gagnon.
Some people in Eeyou Istchee apply for funding for youth sports.
“If people had applied to Jordan’s Principle before September regarding recreation and equipment, that was something that was definitely passed,” said Gagnon-Auclair.
But now youth sports teams may not have their funding approved. Jordan’s Principle will be prioritizing more essential requests, Gagnon-Auclair said.
For Kristen Moar, sports is a social need to help children and youth grow.
Through Jordan’s Principle, she got funding for broomball equipment for the Nemaska Capitals, a girl’s broomball team in northern Quebec. Their broomball bags will have their team logo and their names.
“That’s something that brings pride, being part of a team but also part of the community,” said Moar, who is a former coach of the team.
The girls have been playing together for over two years and have since outgrown some of their equipment. They are now in the under-10 category.
The support from Jordan’s Principle not only helped the girls but also parents and caregivers.
“Low-income families have a lot of barriers in obtaining equipment for sports,” said Moar.
It costs about $300 per player for basics like bags and broomball sticks.
That’s excluding the cost of broomball shoes and other safety equipment, travel, and registration fees, which can hike the costs upward to thousands of dollars per player, Moar said.
The Nemaska Capitals won their first championship at the Cree Regional Events and Entertainment (CREE) tournament on Dec. 10, in Ottawa, ON.
“The children were very grateful. It brought a lot of positive team spirit” said Moar.
Gagnon-Auclair, the lead in Jordan’s Principle support in Eeyou Itschee, hopes she can continue to help families.
“Getting it passed, it’s so gratifying. You feel like you’ve actually helped someone because they’ve opened up their story with you,” she said.
It is unclear when Canada will catch up on backlogged requests, but Gagnon-Auclair said the Cree Health Board always has its doors open to find other funding options.
“You get to help in this tiny little way of making sure that they get the funding for the service that their child needs” said Gagnon-Auclair.
