A familiar refrain.(FIRST NATIONS--DISASTERS)(Kashechewan water contamination)(Native teenage suicides)

Publication: Canada and the World Backgrounder

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COPYRIGHT 2006 Canada & the World

Every once in a while an especially appalling situation comes to light; in 1993, it was gasoline-sniffing teenagers at Davis Inlet and Sheshatshiu, in 1980, it was E. coli in the water supply at Waskaganish (then called Rupert House), in 1970, it was mercury poisoning at Grassy Narrows. Each time one of these catastrophes hits the headlines there is a massive bout of political hand-wringing until the news cycle moves onto some other story

In 2005, many people were stunned to learn that E. coli contaminated the water supply at Kashechewan, a fly-in community about 450 kilometres north of Timmins, on the coast of James Bay. Once again, the news media trotted off to a remote community and reported on the terrible living conditions of the people. Some even pointed out that such conditions would not be tolerated in mainstream Canada.

Helen Connell wrote in the London Free Press. "Think back to Walkerton. Contaminated water took seven rives there in 2000 and left throngs more ill. A full-scale public inquiry, was held, but before it could complete its recommendations, governments were scrambling to fix not only Walkerton's problem but take steps to avoid it happening elsewhere. That's because Canadians view safe drinking water as a right--not a privilege."

The conditions at Kasheche wan--a result of the water treatment plant's intake pipe being located 135 metres downstream from a sewage lagoon--were so bad the Ontario government de dared a state of emergency and evacuated residents. It was estimated that 60 percent of the reserve's 1,900 Cree residents needed medical attention. Many were suffering from skin diseases worsened by heavily chlorinated water to kill bacteria. Others had gastroenteritis, and the hepatitis A virus.

But, Kashechewan's problems had been known about for a long time; nothing was done to correct them until they made the front page of newspapers across the country. In 2003, Ontario's Clean Water Agency called Kashechewan a "Walkerton-in waiting," and the reserve has been under a boil-water advisory for two years, and off and on for years before that. Squalid living conditions, overcrowding, and massive unemployment estimated as high as 80 percent among adults in the community all shocked Canadians across the country.

Kashechewan has plenty of company.

An Indian Affairs study in 2001 found that about one third of the 740 water systems tested in Native communities across the country posed a...

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