Whitehorse woman camps in the cold to protest lack of access to doctors
CBC
Devon Laing listens to an audiobook under three blankets in her tent.
That's where she was for the Yukon's first week of consistent snowfall: not for fun, but for a protest.
Her campaign, called Camping for Care, aims to bring attention to how difficult it is for her and other Yukoners like her to access appropriate medical care.
"I appreciate concerns for my safety, but I would appreciate having access to proper medical care a whole lot more," Laing, who started camping last week, told CBC on Monday.
Laing, who is from Wiikwemkoong First Nation in northern Ontario, has numerous health conditions, including pinched nerves in her back, degenerative disc disease and vestibular ocular reflex that triggers migraines.
She moved from Dawson City to Whitehorse with her husband so she could get intensive physiotherapy for her chronic conditions. Making the move meant giving up their home, so they could afford the treatment.
Then, they lost their Dawson City family doctor because they now had a Whitehorse address.
The territory is opening a new bilingual clinic in the capital on Monday with some walk-in services available to the public.
But Laing says it doesn't solve the issue for those with chronic conditions like her that are on the long list for a family doctor.
"It's great that they're opening a new clinic ... but what about the other 3,200 of us that are waiting for doctors? This is unacceptable," Laing said.
"How long does it take to hire a couple of doctors and a couple of nurses? It shouldn't take that long."
As of Nov. 4, there were 3,453 Yukoners on the waitlist, the Department of Health and Social Services confirmed in an email, though that number fluctuates constantly.
The national shortage of health-care workers in Canada has been well documented throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. In October, Yukon's health minister said the vacancy rate in community nursing is over 40 per cent.
At the time, Minister Tracy-Anne McPhee called the shortage "very, very serious" and said it was affecting all communities including Whitehorse.
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