Wesakechak

Grassy Narrows Chief Simon Fobister led delegations to Toronto, as the community and their supporters continued to lobby for the protection of treaty rights.

“How can we have trust, and reconciliation when the government of Ontario walks away from their responsibility to make things right about the mercury pollution they permitted?” asked the chief in a prepared statement.

The demonstration came on the heels of yet another study, which showed the health of long-term residents was getting worse with time, rather than better, due to the cumulative effects of eating contaminated fish. Based on the results of examinations done during his 2004 visit, Japanese expert Dr. Masazumi Harada said the walleye from the Winnipeg River system near the community may also have a detrimental impact on pregnant women, who could pass on the symptoms to their fetus.

. . .

The province banned commercial fishing for all species except whitefish in 1970. The 2009-2010 edition of the Guide to Eating Ontario Sport Fish still contains warnings for “sensitive populations”, which include expectant mothers and children, who are eating walleye from the Winnipeg River system.

For many years now, both the federal and provincial governments have made contributions to healthy eating programs, including those for expectant mothers.

Health Canada has tried offering a substitute food program for residents, where frozen fish was sent by mail, but it was not successful. The federal government has also challenged Dr. Harada’s findings through the use of their own experts, who note some of the symptoms associated with mercury poisoning can also be caused by other sources, including alcohol and substance abuse.

It is a convenient argument for Health Canada to make — take away the ability to practice a traditional form of life by poisoning the water these people rely on for their food and livelihood, then accuse the population of alcoholism and substance abuse. Raise the specter of the “dirty drunk Indian” as the straw man in the argument; tap into prejudice and ignorance to continue the suffering of Grassy Narrows. The solution to this problem is simple: make amends by fixing the problem and stop blaming the victims. There may be alcoholism and substance abuse, but is that the cause or the effect?

Read the entire news article here. Hopefully the Canadian public and people of Ontario will recognize this as a problem that can only be solved when pressure is brought on the politicians and bureaucracy.