Sewage thrown in ditch from lack of housing

Timmins-James Bay MP Charlie Angus is hoping a Youtube video depicting substandard housing conditions in Attawapiskat will spur governments into action especially with winter arriving along the James Bay coast.
“We found out the conditions are very, very extreme,” said Mushkegowuk Council Grand Chief Stan Louttit, who travelled to Attawapiskat Nov. 7 with Angus, Timmins-James Bay MPP Gilles Bisson and a doctor from the Weeneebayko Area Health Authority.
“There’s families and Elders and babies living in tents with no water, obviously, no sewers, obviously, and no electricity, obviously.”
Louttit said extension cords have been plugged into neighbouring homes to provide basic electrical services in the tents and make-shift sheds.
“And we found out Elders in their 80s were living in those kind of conditions as well,” Louttit said.
Due to their age, Louttit said the Elders don’t have any alternative other than throwing their sewage into the ditch outside their home.
“It becomes a real cause of concern because of the odour and the contamination that happens when you dispose of raw sewage like that in a public place,” Louttit said.
Louttit said Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada (AANDC) has since agreed to make an immediate advance of Attawapiskat’s capital allocation of $499,000 to improve five existing houses.
“The community is working on that,” Louttit said. “They have received a (portion) of the funds. They are mobilizing, they have ordered the materials and they are starting to renovate the five houses where five families can move in.”
But Louttit said the federal advance is just a band-aid solution that doesn’t solve the problem.
“These houses that are being renovated are old houses that have been abandoned by people because they are not good,” Louttit said. “We’re trying to look for more longer-term sustainable solutions than that. The challenge is to work with both levels of government to be able to deal with this issue in the longer term.”
Attawapiskat Chief Theresa Spence, Louttit and other community representatives held a press conference Nov. 18 at Queen’s Park in Toronto to speak about Attawapiskat’s declaration of a state of emergency. They also discussed the need for support from the provincial government to help residents without running water, heating and basic sanitation.
“There is an imminent health and safety risk for the children and adults living in these appalling conditions, and the provincial government needs to step in with the help and expertise required,” said Bisson.
He atttended the press conference along with Angus and Kenora-Rainy River MPP Sarah Campbell to highlight the need for urgent action from the provincial government to address the humanitarian crisis facing the people of Attawapiskat.
“There are young children and families facing a bleak winter without the basic essentials of life and with hazardous surroundings,” Campbell said. “Now is the time for the government to exercise the powers of the Emergency Measures Act to send in teams to help those who are suffering before the situation deteriorates further.”
Angus also called on both levels of government to help the residents of Attawapiskat during Parliament’s Nov. 21 question period, explaining it has been three weeks since the state of emergency was declared.
“Not a single official of the federal or provincial government has bothered to visit the community to see first-hand the deplorable conditions,” Angus said. “Not even one aid agency has stepped forward.”
Angus said conditions are deteriorating every day, with temperatures dropping 20 degrees and likely to drop even more very soon.
“Families in makeshift tents and uninsulated sheds with no hydro or water are facing immediate risk,” Angus said.
An AANDC spokesperson said the department has not received a copy of the state of emergency declaration as of Nov. 21.
“In the meantime, AANDC is providing $500,000 to Attawapiskat so that work to renovate five vacant units may be completed as quickly as possible,” said Linda Britt, communications officer with AANDC, in a Nov. 21 email. “On a conference call with Attawapiskat First Nation on Nov. 8, 2011, Chief Spence indicated that the five priority families do not wish to be evacuated from the community.”
Britt said AANDC has provided about $9 million in direct funding to Attawapiskat First Nation since 2004-2005 for housing projects including construction, renovation and lot servicing.
The Mushkegowuk Council highlighted the housing crisis in October, noting that Attawapiskat currently has 304 homes for 3,281 residents, Kashechewan has 268 homes for 1,900 residents and Fort Albany has 150 homes for 1,000 residents.