IPS-English CANADA: Filthy Water Sickens Native Communities Date: Thu, 03 Nov 2005 14:48:35 -0800 X-Temp-Whitefrom: YES ips.org X-Temp-Misspell: YES adv X-Spamprobe: ham-super * 0.0000329 OK ROMAIPS NA DV EN HD HE IP IN=20 CANADA: Filthy Water Sickens Native Communities Howard Williams OTTAWA, Nov 3 (IPS) - Canada's image as a nation with a pristine environm= ent and bountiful fresh water, as well as a champion of the rights of min= orities and indigenous peoples, has taken a hit with the revelation of sq= ualid living conditions among its native communities. The latest crisis has resulted in about half of the 1,900 members of the = Cree community in Kashechewan, Northern Ontario, being airlifted within a= week to other Ontario communities after it was revealed that raw sewage = was being pumped into the community's water supplies and that a strain of= the deadly E. coli bacteria had been discovered in the water. The remainder of the population is expected to be airlifted out in the ne= xt couple of weeks as the hunting season winds down. Efforts to correct the water contamination problem by increasing chlorine= in the water just exacerbated a range of skin diseases, such as eczema, = scabies and impetigo, without making the water safe to drink or even to b= athe in. The federal government in Ottawa has promised to relocate the entire comm= unity with new housing to replace the overcrowded squalor of the Kasheche= wan reserve where officials say several generations of extended families = have to share the same housing -- including 19 members of one extended fa= mily who are sharing a two-bedroom house. But the relocation will take 10 years to complete. And, according to the Assembly of First Nations (AFN), which represents s= o-called =94status Indians=94 who have the right to live on Indian reserv= es, Kaschechewan just the tip of the iceberg. The AFN says that at least another 100 Indian communities nationwide are = suffering from the same squalor as Kashechewan and need emergency action. The federal government claims it was caught by surprise by the extent of = the problem at Kashechewan. But others, including the AFN and the provinc= ial government of Ontario, insist that the problem has been apparent for = several years and nobody should have been surprised. Prime Minister Paul Martin told reporters: =94I think that, obviously, it= 's unacceptable and the government, our government, the federal governmen= t, must obviously accept its responsibility and we do so and that action = is going to be taken.=94 But it was the provincial government that took responsibility for airlift= ing the first 1,000 residents to other Ontario communities even though, t= echnically, Indian reserves are the responsibility of Ottawa. As the residents were being airlifted out, Canadian Forces were airliftin= g in emergency water purification equipment. Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty, normally a political ally of Martin, sai= d the federal government had been =94missing in action=94 for the past tw= o years, as Kashechewan's water treatment plant poured high amounts of ch= lorine into the water to deal with persistent pollution. The province's Aboriginal Affairs Minister David Ramsay said: =94We've ha= d to act, because there has been no action there (by the federal governme= nt).=94 The reaction in Ottawa appears to have been, at best, confused. Federal Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development, Andy Scott, = told the House of Commons that action was taken by his department as soon= as it knew the extent of the problem. But he the admitted =94this proble= m has existed in that community since 1957=94 adding =94and this problem = will be solved by this government, beginning now=94. AFN Grand Chief Phil Fontaine said more had to be done urgently and not j= ust for Kaschechewan. =94The first step is to deal with the crisis in Kashechewan,=94 he said. = =94Then we must map out a comprehensive plan to address this issue on a n= ational basis because this situation occurs in far too many First Nations= communities in Canada.=94 According to the AFN, currently more than 100 First Nation communities mu= st boil their drinking water and more than one quarter of the water treat= ment systems in all First Nations communities remain at high risk of cont= amination. Federal, provincial and community leaders have already started talks on f= inding a new location for the Kashechewan community. The current communit= y, on the shore of James Bay, is unable to expand because of the rock str= ucture surrounding it, which has led to already overcrowded housing becom= ing more overcrowded and leading to even greater strains on community ser= vices such as sewage, water supplies and health care. The provincial government has promised to provide whatever land may be ne= cessary to build a new community and Martin has promised to provide the f= ederal financing, although nobody as yet knows how much money will be nec= essary. But clearly everyone is hoping the moving of the entire community will be= more successful than the transfer of another Indian community in Newfoun= dland three years ago. The Innu band at Davis Inlet, Newfoundland, was moved top a newly-created= reserve at nearby Natuashish after the Davis Inlet community made intern= ational headlines when it was hit by massive incidents of gasoline-sniffi= ng and suicides by its adolescents. Television crews from all around the world filmed pictures of squalor wit= h a lack of basic sewage and drinking water. So the community was moved. But new problems appear to have emerged. The band council at Natuashish is being investigated following reports th= at councilors traveled on lavish trips, armed with blank cheques from the= council's bank account, and made excessive loans with no controls to the= mselves. The band has, so far, refused to comment on the allegations. ***** +Assembly of First Nations (http://www.afn.ca/article.asp?id=3D3) (END/IPS/NA/HE/IP/HD/IN/EN/DV/HW/KS/05) =20 =3D 11031937 ORP010 NNNN