The Minister of Indigenous and Northern Relations Eileen Clarke has responded to issues raised in a letter from Mayor Cal Huntley.  On the issues associated with cottage areas located close to municipalities the Minister pointed out property owners within cottage areas generally pay a cottage levy fee in lieu of property taxes that provide for operational services and support to these areas.  She noted her department is currently undertaking a system wide review of program delivery and applicable legislation impacting Northern Affairs communities including how services are provided and paid for in cottage areas.

Regarding health care she pointed out the Clinical and Preventive Services plan continues to identify innovative ways to improve service delivery systems and ensure northern Manitobans have access to appropriate care as close to home as possible. She agreed with Mayor Huntley that the pandemic has shown the benefits of delivering services virtually and will continue its use in a post COVID-19 world.  And regarding inter-provincial clinical record sharing between Manitoba and Saskatchewan Clarke noted while full and complete access referred to in his letter is not possible at this time there has been and will continue to be progress on this issue.