Health officials report Fort Albany First Nation residents at grave risk
Press Release ...
'GRAVE' Risk To Health On James Bay: Action Needed For Fort Albany Crisis
A northern medical team are warning of an urgent threat to human health in the isolated community of Fort Albany on the James Bay coast. The warning was issued by Dr. Robert Gabor of the James Bay Weeneebayko Hospital following a tour of mould-contaminated homes. He is calling for the immediate evacuation of a number of families from the worst of the homes and says the overall health risk to the community from mold and toxins is a grave risk to life.
Dr. Gabor carried out the inspection with Charlie Angus, MPP Gilles Bisson, MPP Andrea Horwath, MPP Michael Prue and representatives of the Mushkegowuk Tribal Council. Fort Albany is the sister community to the trouble-plagued Kashechewan reserve. Conditions they found were appalling.
"We are looking at a health horror story. In some houses we found elders sleeping in homes with rotted floors. In another home we saw a young child who is relying on steroids and ventilators to keep down the swelling and sores that are covering his entire body. These are families living with unbelievable levels of mould, fungus and toxins."
Angus says Indian and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC) needs to get involved to help avert a health crisis. INAC needs to learn the lessons of Kashechewan. They have been missing in action on this file. They cant sit back and wait for this latest James Bay crisis to blow over. They need to come to the table and take some responsibility for helping.
And Gilles Bisson says an action plan is needed. We have met with medical authorities as well as the chief and the council. We need an action plan that will immediately send in a team to assess the overall health risk, examine the state of the homes and ensure adequate funding to conduct a serious overhaul of the housing situation in Fort Albany.
Many of the worst houses are in a relatively new subdivision that has been plagued from the beginning by poor design and flooded basements. Bisson says the community needs a well-funded and planned out response. The situation in this subdivision is urgent. We have to get the families to safety. But then we need a commitment to get proper houses built that can be maintained on the muskeg conditions of the James Bay coast.
Fort Albany band council and the Mushkegowuk Tribal Council are working to get a full account of the health crisis affecting the community.