We Need To Protect Our First Nations From Emergencies

I was surprised recently when I saw my relatives in my home community of Attawapiskat First Nation on the James Bay coast were still having to fetch water from a water pumping station in the community. For most people in the community, it is the only way for them to have clean drinking water. It was very surprising to me to see, because this was the reality when I was a teenager in the community over 30 years ago. I had hoped that by now, the water systems would be fixed and properly maintained to provide clean, safe drinking water to every household but that is not the case.

A more serious issue has occurred in Kashechewan First Nation, south of Attawapiskat FN on the James Bay coast. On January 4, Kashechewan FN Chief Hosea Wesley declared a state of local emergency when the community’s water treatment and wastewater plants were in a state of disrepair. They were at the point of a full emergency when not enough clean drinking water could be provided to residents. In the midst of the problems, a sewage backup at the community’s medical clinic forced them to move their medical services. This has been compounded by the fact that all the northern remote James Bay communities are in the midst of flu and Covid outbreaks, where many people are sick and unwell. The sickness is even more serious in northern remote First Nations due to the fact that most families live in overcrowded conditions and any contagious flu immediately infects many people all at once. Many people are also reporting that this year’s flu and Covid infections are more serious and troublesome for people of all ages.

The community is now faced with having to evacuate hundreds of community members to southern cities and towns in order to keep them safe.

This is not the first time that Kashechewan FN has had to face these problems. In 2005, more than 800 residents were evacuated because of E. coli contamination. On top of that, the First Nation has had to face near annual evacuations due to flooding events that happen every spring on the Albany River, where the community is situated.

The constant emergency disruptions in the community have had a serious toll on families, especially young people, who lose out on their education and feel unsafe and uncomfortable in their own homes.

In another part of the country, in northern Manitoba, Pimicikamak Cree Nation suffered a major power outage that left the community without power for days. Their loss of power during the coldest days of December has devastated the community as water pipes froze and when the power returned, burst pipes ruined homes. In online video reports, Pimicikamak Cree Nation Chief David Monias describes how their community was barely handling water services before the power outage. This emergency event has only made their water management problems even worse.

Governments at all levels need to take more action to support aging and even deficient infrastructure in our northern First Nations. For many communities, it’s not a matter of if their systems will fail but a matter of when.

As an economic problem, it is far more productive, cheaper and safer if these issues are dealt with now rather than waiting for the inevitable failures to happen. Governments need to provide more and better funding for infrastructure in these northern communities to prevent them from having to deal with these major issues. What is more economical? To save money now and not provide enough funding for aging infrastructure or wait until a major catastrophe happens and emergency management teams have to be called in, the military mobilized, evacuees transported, community members housed and fed in shelters and to spend funds to remedy the actual emergency problem. In the long run, it would be far easier on everyone and more cost-effective to properly address these issues to prevent them from happening in the first place.

First Nations are frustrated by having to deal with these issues on an ongoing basis, while governments at all levels are willing to fast-track or provide support to industry and corporations that want to go into these northern territories. On the one hand, the government is willing to support mining companies and corporations moving into these remote northern regions, while at the same time withholding or providing insufficient support to the First Nation people who live there.

We have to create a situation and a standard of living where we prioritize people first and make these communities as safe and comfortable as the rest of Canada.

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