Emergency Medical Evacuation Underway

THUNDER BAY – The ongoing medical emergency in Kashechewan is continuing. Member of Parliament Charlie Angus shares, “We had an excellent phone conference this morning to look into the crisis with regional leaders, medical experts and government officials. There is an emergency evacuation underway of the sixteen most serious cases”.

Angus, the Timmins James Bay New Democrat MP says, “Medical teams will be going into Kashechewan tomorrow to examine all the children. Nurses will begin a health awareness campaign”.

“We are now setting up a follow-up meeting to look at issues of infrastructure — water safety, black mould and the issue of whether the sewage lagoon is leaking into the water system. This crisis wasn’t accidental — it is systemic,” added Angus.

“There must be a commitment to build the infrastructure and health services so the children in the northern communities can grow up healthy, safe and hopeful.”

Ontario Regional Chief Isadore Day states, “The ministers comments about this not being about water should be checked out; it was just today that we heard about impacts of high chlorination clashing with skin ailments, from medical personnel on an emergency call with the community”.

“We know that if the water is requiring high chlorination, the raw water may be impacted by the sewage lagoon breach that was verified by the community today. This scenario is much more complex than to cancel out water as one of the root causes,” explained Ontario Regional Chief Isadore Day.

“Another unsettling aspect to the situation is Kashechewan is the high number of these skin ailments in children, yet the public health system in the community and the Health Canada bureaucracy has not invoked swift measures to respond in a direct and urgent manner. One has to wonder, if this case was in rural southern Ontario, if the response would be more immediate,” questioned Regional Chief Day.

Nishnawbe-Aski Nation Grand Chief Alvin Fiddler states, “It is heart wrenching to see the pictures of these children from Kashechewan. My immediate reaction when I saw them was as a parent…just send a plane up there to go pick them up so they can receive the medical assistance that they so desperately need. Which is exactly what we did over the weekend”.

Grand Chief Fiddler says, “Since then federal government officials have come on board and are now working with the community to evacuate all the other children that may require immediate treatment”.

“At the same time, a medical team will be travelling to the community and conduct house to house visits and assess all the children and youth in the community”.

“While it is encouraging to see the federal and provincial governments take immediate action on the medical crisis of these children, they also have an obligation to examine the broader social determinants, for example, access to clean drinking water, quality health care and adequate housing and to work in partnership with the community to begin addressing these issues,” added the Grand Chief.

Grand Chief Fiddler adds, “We are committed to working closely with the community to ensure that their immediate needs are addressed while working towards longer term solutions”.

“We are praying for the full recovery of the children that have been evacuated,” concluded the Grand Chief.

The Kashechewan First Nation is a Cree First Nation band government located near James Bay in Northern Ontario, Canada. The community is located on the northern shore of the Albany River. Kashechewan First Nation is one of two communities that were established from Old Fort Albany (now the Fort Albany 67 Indian Reserve.

The water crisis is coming before the spring break up that usually impacts Kashechewan and Attawapiskat in Northern Ontario.

Water Issues in Northern Ontario

As of January 31, 2016, there were 135 Drinking Water Advisories in effect in 86 First Nation communities across Canada, excluding British Columbia.