A new mercury treatment facility lags behind schedule, while Grassy Narrows said it has only received 1 per cent of the required funding
OTTAWA — The chief of the Grassy Narrows First Nation has rejected an apology from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, saying Ottawa needs to put its promised funding for a mercury poisoning treatment centre into a trust in order to ensure the money will be available over the long term.
Grassy Narrows has been suffering from mercury poisoning in its local water supply for decades, after an upstream pulp and paper mill dumped thousands of pounds of effluent into the English-Wabigoon river system through the ’60s and early ’70s. Goldberg was representing an advocacy group called Free Grassy Narrows, which aims to help the community secure a long-term care facility for patients of mercury poisonings.
On Thursday, Trudeau apologized for his comments to the protester and to the broader First Nations community. The rejection by Chief Turtle comes after a medical treatment centre in the community promised by Ottawa lags behind schedule. Members of the Grassy Narrows and Whitedog First Nations have been found to have uncommonly high levels of mercury in their blood stream, largely from eating fish from the English-Wabigoon river system. Mercury is often carried in fish, particularly white fish species like walleye, and it “bioaccumulates” — meaning it is often passed down from one generation to the next through childbirth, and is nearly impossible to rid from the body.
Chief Turtle of Grassy Narrows said the community needs to have the money put into a trust to ensure that future governments don’t suddenly take away the promised funding.
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