GlobalMedic helps out Attawapiskat reserve

Toronto-based GlobalMedic, a charity that usually flies to assist people in world disaster zones, went on an emergency run closer to home over the weekend.
 
It flew the two hours from Toronto to the Attawapiskat reserve in northern Ontario to inspect the water system and deliver 100 warm coats for children.

“You’ve got people who are families of eight to ten living in shacks, living in moldy conditions,” said Matt Capobianco , GlobalMedic Manager Emergency Programs

The living conditions at the James Bay area reserve have been in the spotlight in recent days after Attawapiskat First Nation reserve Chief Theresa Spence warned of a housing crisis there.  A meeting has been announced for early in the new year between Aboriginal leaders and the federal government to address the situation.

Attewepiskat resident Lisa Marie is one of the people living in substandard conditions with her three children. She has no indoor plumbing, or insulation to speak of. Her electricity is provided by an extension cord run through a neighbour’s home, and she gets her heat by a wooden stove.

“I live in a 16 X 20 tent frame. It’s not really insulated. ..It’s really hard, especially in the winter when the wind chill is minus 40 and 50. We have to keep the fire going. At times, the fire goes out at night,” she said.

Chiefs meeting in the capital this week say the housing crisis in Attawapiskat is glaring proof why Stephen Harper’s winter summit with First Nations leaders can’t just be about education.

In fact, the living conditions have gotten so desperate, Chief Spence wants the area evacuated.

“The government should be able to act, not delay and play games and wait for the situation to get worse…People are still living in tent frames and tent sheds as we speak,” she said.

Both the prime minister and Shawn Atleo, national chief of the Assembly of First Nations, have put reform to native education at the centre of discussions leading to a late-January meeting between the federal government and First Nations.

Harper has resisted calls to take a broad approach to First Nations concerns, preferring instead to avoid the possibility of biting off more than he can chew.

But education can’t improve unless living conditions also improve, said Bill Montour, chief of the Six Nations reserve in southern Ontario.

“Harper’s focus is on education. So is Shawn Atleo’s. But it’s a continuum,” Montour said in an interview during a break in meetings on First Nations housing.

“Education is important but, when I look at our communities, I look at it as a circle continuum. If you don’t have a safe, healthy house for children to learn, to study, to get decent meals and food, their health, their social, recreation,” the implications are obvious, he said.

“It’s all in that circle continuum. If you take one element out, that wheel doesn’t turn any more. And that’s where a lot of our communities in Canada are right now.”

A spokeswoman says Aboriginal Affairs Minister John Duncan is trying to arrange a meeting with Chief Spence, this week while she is in Ottawa for the AFN meetings.

To donate to relief efforts at the Attawapiskat reserve via the Canadian Red Cross, click here.