Mergler's report made a number of recommendations, including cleaning up the pollution from the river, and bettering a wide range of treatment and health care available to residents. Da Silva said the community has been told actual remediation won't begin for another couple of years, as pre-cleanup engineering and sediment sampling work still needs to be done. That compares with 40 per cent in other Ontario First Nations and 60 per cent in non-Indigenous people in Canada. ... CBC … Mergler's research linked the prevalence of poor health to pregnant women consuming fish caught from the nearby English-Wabigoon River system, which is where Reed Paper, former owners of the mill in Dryden, Ont., dumped thousands of kilograms of mercury-contaminated effluent in the 1960s and early 1970s. ", "Compensate our people and help us get our economy back.". Grassy Narrows remains one of Canada's worst environmental disasters, a fact underscored through research done by fresh water scientist Patricia Sellers in 2015, which found mercury levels still rising in some nearby lakes and Japanese researchers, who determined that more than 90 per cent of the populations of Grassy Narrows and Wabaseemoong First Nations show signs of poisoning. Mergler's report, community officials said, is "the most comprehensive assessment of the health of the community to date" and was compiled using data from a wide-ranging health survey of hundreds of households, as well as First Nations regional health surveys done in 2008 and 2010. The First Nation is also a member of the Bimose Tribal Council and the Grand Council Treaty 3. Camp Grassy Narrows is located on the shores of Lac Des Quinze, hidden under the birches and pine trees. As well, mercury exposure through the consumption of contaminated fish is associated "with poor health and well-being. As reported by the CBC, symptoms such as loss of motor function, tingling and weakness in limbs, and difficulty speaking and swallowing are not uncommon among the residents of Grassy Narrows. In response to Wednesday's report, Jane Philpott, Canada's Minister of Indigenous Affairs, reiterated Ottawa's commitment to a specialized mercury treatment centre in Grassy Narrows. Mergler's report, which is the second part of a wide-ranging probe into the health of people in Grassy Narrows, exposed some dire findings concerning the health of young people in the First Nation, which is located about 100 kilometres northeast of Kenora, including the prevalence of a number of chronic physical and mental conditions, including: Mental health, emotional and behavioural problems, Anemia, or the deficiency of red blood cells. Ontario Minamata disease is a neurological syndrome caused by severe mercury poisoning.It occurred in the Canadian province of Ontario, in 1970, and severely affected two First Nation communities in Northwestern Ontario following consumption of local fish contaminated with mercury, and one First Nation in Southern Ontario due to illegal disposal of industrial chemical waste. "This should be a priority for him. Risk factors for psychological distress, which the report said is a major determinant for suicide, include food and financial insecurity, disability and chronic health conditions. If not the very worst uh health crisis in Canada and drew a clear link between the physical and psychological harms confronting the people of grassy narrows and the devastating impacts of massive … CBC News launched daily podcast Front Burner on Monday, hosted and produced by investigative journalist Jayme Poisson.A joint project with CBC Podcasts, the new podcast will be available as a daily download Monday to Friday at 6 a.m. Box 500 Station A Toronto, ON Canada, M5W 1E6. LIVE: Grassy Narrows leadership call for the construction of a local Mercury Home and Treatment Centre to help the survivors of decades of mercury poisoning Young people from Grassy Narrows, along with Chief Turtle and dozens of supporters planned to rally Thursday at noon to demand Prime Minister Justin Trudeau take action on providing compensation to community members. Ontario has committed $85 million for the remediation of the river, with the money being secured in a trust fund. Also worrying, officials said, were the conclusions around suicide. "I'm asking both governments (federal and provincial) to compensate our community and to really address the problems that we have in our community and start moving forward." CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL STORY --->>> CBC ARTICLE "Home To Me" is a song written and performed by a group of youth from Grassy Narrows First Nation. They've received a lot of love and praise on the internet and their music video has hit over half a million views. "Here in a community, we're talking about one third of the people who have had a family member or a close friend who've committed suicide.". Grassy Narrows mercury victims up to 6 times more likely to have debilitating health problems, report says, Grassy Narrows collecting decades of health data to get 'a full picture' of mercury poisoning, Loss of feeling in fingers and toes: Classic signs of mercury poisoning found in 90% of Grassy Narrows people, CBC's Journalistic Standards and Practices. ", "It's time that he meet with Grassy Narrows, that he meet with the chief and council, that he meet with our people, that he stand in front of our people and talk to our people. Five times more likely to have stomach and intestinal problems. In 2019, Grassy Narrows chief Rudy Turtle ran for the federal New Democratic Party in the Kenorariding. Grassy Narrows First Nation fears further mercury poisoning as Ford government ends assessments for clear-cut logging. The likelihood of someone in Grassy Narrows reporting mercury poisoning is five times higher among residents whose father was a fishing guide, Mergler's research found. "It's a shame on Canada, a shame on the province that we are treated so inhumanely.". Under the Indian Act electoral system, Grassy Narrows First Nation elects a council for a two-year term, consisting of one chief and four councillors (see also Reserves in Ontario: Politics). The ceremony was intended to protect waterways from contamination from train derailments. The prevalence of mercury in the river also devastated a thriving commercial fishery in Grassy Narrows in the 1970s, and put many guides out of work. The first report found that grassy narrows faces one of the worst. Thirty-three per cent of community members reported losing a close friend or family member to suicide, which, according to the report, is nearly five times the rate in other Indigenous communities in Ontario. "What more can we say? I'm asking the federal government to support our special [education] funding," Turtle said. Many parents believe physical abnormalities, developmental delays, and even terminal illnesses in children are directly related to the water contamination. April marks the 50th anniversary of the fishing industry being shut down in Grassy Narrows due to mercury contamination of the river system. That's up from about $166,000 in 2008-2009, according to documents obtained by CBC News. The youth of Asubpeeschoseewagong (Grassy Narrows) First Nation are demanding the Canadian government keep its promises to finally address the mercury crisis in their community. In 1983, a CBC documentary declared Grassy Narrows a community “on the verge of collapse.” It showed a picture of the Grade 8 class that year, and detailed the horrific fate of some of the students. Its original Slant Lake blockade site, about 100 km north of Kenora, Ontario, started on December 2, 2002. That's among the conclusions from peer-reviewed research publicly released Thursday morning by Grassy Narrows First Nation. One man watched his kitten walking in circles, salivating and convulsing. Their landbase is the 4,145 ha (10,240 acres) English River 21 Indian Reserve. "Help us," Chief Rudy Turtle said on Wednesday at a press conference following the release of the report, conducted by Donna Mergler, a Canadian environmental health researcher and expert on mercury poisoning, who the First Nation has commissioned. Grassy Narrows lies about 120 miles east of Winnipeg, with an approximate population of 1490 people (Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development in Canada 2012). Grassy Narrows is about 100 kilometres north of Kenora, Ont. It is a priority for CBC to create a website that is accessible to all Canadians including people with visual, hearing, motor and cognitive challenges. In general, only 21 per cent of Grassy Narrows members reported their health as being "good or excellent." Twenty-eight per cent of respondents in Grassy Narrows had attempted suicide, the report found, more than double the rate of other First Nations. It is a priority for CBC to create a website that is accessible to all Canadians including people with visual, hearing, motor and cognitive challenges. In late 2017, Ottawa committed to funding a treatment centre. The chief of Grassy Narrows First Nation is calling on the federal government to provide compensation for people suffering the effects of exposure to high levels of mercury and to better resource special education funding in the northwestern Ontario community. With few local economic opportunities and little money, residents have continued to eat the fish caught from nearby lakes and rivers over the years. 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