Media.Knet.Ca

Thunder Bay, October 20th, 2004: Neskantaga First Nation (Landsdowne House) is demanding urgent action from Health Canada and other government Ministries as the community enters its third week without water. Since the discovery on September 29th, 2004, that Neskantaga's water supply was contaminated with .410mg/L of gasoline and an unusually high level of Triahalometane (THM) a cancer causing agent, the community's water system has been shut down, causing economic, social and major health concerns for all residents.

The DO NOT USE WATER ADVISORY in force in the community is not just limited to human consumption, but also to household and personal hygiene duties and boiling the water will not make it safe. Water from the nearby lake is now being used restrictedly for flushing the toilet with buckets. Concerns over public hygiene are increasing and especially for women and families with young infants. With the cost of a 1 litre bottle of water at $6.00, community members are unable to afford sufficient supplies for all their consumption needs. The Ministry of Indian and Northern Affairs has agreed to support the supply of 5 litres/per day/per person of bottled water, however, this amount falls far short of the 600 litres that is consumed by the average person per day. The community of Neskantaga First Nation is appalled by the complete apathy by the Federal Government.

Residents of Neskantaga have been battling with water safety issues for a number of years. A nine years long 'BOIL WATER ADVISORY' has been in effect in the community, which is the longest in Ontario history and their water treatment facility does not meet today's expected standards. This, coupled with an outbreak of black mould in at least 50% of the community's housing units, is causing panic, health issues and outrage amongst community members.

As a result of these crippling issues, the Neskantaga school is closed to its 85 students until further notice and teachers/workers from outside the community are resigning at a high financial cost to the community. In the future, the community hopes to offer Grade 9 students an opportunity to make up school credits on weekends, however, this will be at a cost of $3,000.00 per day to the Neskantaga community.

Says Chief Peter Moonias of Neskantaga First Nation: "INAC has a fiduciary and financial responsibility to take care of the people of Neskantaga and to honour our Treaty rights to an adequate standard of living and health care. We will not be treat like second class citizens in this manner. This attitude is simply not good enough.

We are demanding support to help us pay for the clean up and recovery process from every government ministry, both on a provincial and federal level. The right to a safe and useable water supply is a right of every person living in this country for the health and well-being of himself and his family.

INAC is proposing that this crisis is dealt with through an advance in capital funds. But I absolutely refuse to mortgage the future of our children in this manner. Our community members should not be expected and can not afford to pay for this god given right. The efforts being made to help our community are not fast or effective enough. I am growing incredibly concerned over the long term health effects that this issue could have on my community members. I am of the opinion that when Walkerton and Ontario faced its water crises a few years ago, the Provincial Government did not respond to this municipality that it was an operations and maintenance issue or only offered to assist by providing the community with an advance of funds. This is the current position of the Department of Indian and Northern Affairs Canada.

I wonder how different the response would be if the residents of Toronto were without access to water?"

Neskantaga First Nation is a remote fly in community located approximately 500 kilometres north of Thunder Bay.

-30-