For the last half century, the people of Grassy Narrows have
struggled with the devastating impacts of mercury poisoning. Next week,
federal Indigenous Services Minister Seamus O’Regan will visit the
northwestern Ontario First Nation. What the Minister does while he’s
there – whether concrete action to address the community’s urgent health
needs are forthcoming or whether it’s a just another pre-election photo
op  –  will be a litmus test for the sincerity of the Trudeau
government’s rhetoric on reconciliation with Indigenous peoples.

The people of Grassy Narrows face one of the worst community health
crises in Canada, a crisis that can be directly traced to a half century
of government indifference and inaction. In the 1960s, an upstream pulp
mill dumped 9 tonnes of mercury into the river system that is the
lifeblood of the people of Grassy Narrows. The tragic impact on a people
who have relied on fish for their culture, subsistence and livelihoods
was predictable, yet the federal and provincial governments chose to
look the other way.

The river system has never been cleaned up. A minimal compensation
agreement negotiated in the 1980s offered a travesty of justice. And no
specialized health services have ever been provided for those suffering
the effects of mercury poisoning.

In fact, the federal and provincial governments have both long denied
that mercury poisoning was even a problem, despite the incontrovertible
evidence provided by numerous scientific reports.