Winterrrrr
From Pamela Palmater, rabble.ca:
In 1979, the largest diesel spill in northern Ontario occurred from underground pipes which leaked under their reserve lands. INAC [Indian and Northern Affairs Canada] did not remediate this environmental hazard, but instead, INAC built a school for the community on these contaminated lands. The school itself ended up acting like a cap for the nearly 30,000 gallons of diesel just underneath the surface. The toxic diesel fumes made both teachers and students so ill that the school had to be closed.
In 2000-2001, the band closed the school and also declared a state of emergency in order to get INAC to build a proper school on lands that were not contaminated. INAC refused and left children to attend school in cold, moldy, run-down portables. This is how the world came to know Shannen Koostachin — the brave little girl who would not give up on her dream of a safe, clean school for her community. Her campaign came to be known as Shannen’s Dream.
[…]
The school has not been the only issue plaguing Attawapiskat. In early 2005, the De Beers Mining company decided to dump their sewage sludge into Attawapiskat’s sewage pumping station. As a result, the system was overwhelmed and sewage backed up into community homes. A subsequent engineering report noted that Canada knew about the situation and did not take steps to address the immediate crisis or to remediate the environmental hazard.
Because INAC refused to offer emergency aid to this community in crisis, the struggling First Nation was forced to evacuate its residents and pay the bill itself, thus resulting in a major debt. NDP Member of Parliament Charlie Angus explained that the band ran up a debt from flying people out of the community and putting them in hotels. Residents simply could not stay in homes full of raw sewage, and the First Nation was forced into a tough decision given INAC’s refusal to assist them.
They declared a state of emergency in early 2009 to refocus attention on the nearly 10 years without a school. At that time, the Minister of Indian and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC), Chuck Strahl, was shocked by the declaration of the sate of emergency: “… they’ve issued this (state of emergency) and I’m not sure what it means or why it has been done.” The declaration was made not just because of the school, but also because of the water infrastructure needs and the major environmental and health issue associated with the De Beers sewage back-up in their community.
Strahl went on to express that there were no health issues, that he was aware of the situation on the ground and that “Every indication is it’s all good.” He went on to guarantee that INAC would ensure that everything would be fine: “I’m not sure what’s going on there, but we’ll work with them to make sure it’s all fine,” said Strahl. An interesting promise given the reaction by Minister Duncan and the “Harper Government” to Attawapiskat’s third declaration of emergency on October 28, 2011.
At first, this declaration received the same amount of attention from INAC as the previous ones — no attention at all. Chief Theresa Spence, MP Charlie Angus and others were in the news nearly every day trying to bring attention to the worsening crisis in Attawapiskat. Now, given all the past disasters with diesel, sewage back-up, evacuations and no school, the community saw some of its members living in sheds and tents, and some houses were so over-crowded that they had up to 20 people living in one house. Yet for three weeks INAC did not act. It was not until the Canadian Red Cross stepped in and provided emergency services to the community that the “Harper Government” was shamed into responding.
However, the response was not what anyone expected. Instead of empathy or compassion, the “Harper Government” came out swinging and accused the community of “mismanagement” of their federal funding. Unlike the political reaction to any other community in Canada that has suffered a crisis like flooding or fire, the Conservatives turned their backs and decided to blame the victim for the many crises in their community.
