Grand Chief Morris Swan-Shannacappo is calling for a full public inquiry into aboriginal health care in Manitoba. (CBC)Manitoba First Nations leaders are demanding a public inquiry into the health care received by aboriginal people in the province, saying too many are being treated poorly.

The Southern Chiefs Organization has heard 49 recent complaints about quality of health care in the past nine months, Grand Chief Morris Swan-Shannacappo told a news conference Tuesday.

Some who spoke up complained of inadequate care, he said. Others said they were sent away from clinics or hospitals without being allowed to see a doctor or nurse.

Inquests toothless, leader says

The call for an inquiry came just hours after a Manitoba judge ruled the province has the moral obligation to pay for experienced legal counsel to represent Brian Sinclair's family at an inquest into his death.

Sinclair, a 45-year-old double amputee with a speech problem, was found dead in his wheelchair after spending 34 hours in the Health Sciences Centre's emergency department waiting room in September 2008.

Swan-Shannacappo said the inquest will be toothless because there will be no findings of fault by the presiding judge. Under provincial law, an inquest can only make recommendations about how to prevent similar deaths.

"An inquest, what is that?," Swan-Shannacappo asked. "It's a place where we can sit down and talk and words will be exchanged, but with no real solutions at the end of the day."

Instead, he urged the province to hold a public inquiry. He said it should be similar to the aboriginal justice inquiry, called after the 1988 murder of Helen Betty Osborne in The Pas and the police-involved shooting of J.J. Harper in Winnipeg.

The justice inquiry was responsible for key recommendations to improve how Aboriginal Peoples are treated by the justice system, Swan-Shannacappo said.

The inquiry "didn't say, 'let's fix things for these aboriginal people overnight.' What they said is, 'let's go around to each community and we will start collecting all the data — all the horrific stories, and from there we can see how we can work together.'"

Inquest is enough, minister says

Justice Minister Andrew Swan said he expects that the scope of the Brian Sinclair inquest will be sufficiently broad that a full-blown inquiry won't be needed.

"There are a number of third parties representing First Nations people, aboriginal people, who have standing at this inquest who will be able to raise issues," Swan said.

Justice Minister Andrew Swan responds Tuesday to questions about the planned inquest into the death of Brian Sinclair at the Winnipeg's Health Science Centre in September 2008. (CBC)"So I think there is going to be a pretty complete and full discussion of those issues at the inquest."

Sinclair arrived at the emergency room of Winnipeg's Health Science Centre on Sept. 19, 2008, after being referred there by a physician.

Security footage showed Sinclair went to the triage desk and spoke to an aide before wheeling himself into the waiting room. About 33 hours later, someone in the waiting room approached a security guard, saying Sinclair seemed to be dead.

Sinclair's death could have been prevented had he been treated, Manitoba's chief medical examiner, Dr. Thambirajah Balachandra, said at the time.

No date has been set for the Sinclair inquest. Preliminary concerns and motions are still being ironed out.