Several organizations and individuals demanded stricter regulations of mercury emissions at a press conference Tuesday, saying the Canadian and Ontario governments still aren’t doing enough to prevent mercury poisoning among Grassy Narrows residents.
Between 1962 and 1970, the Grassy Narrows community was contaminated when the Dryden paper mill dumped 20,000 pounds (almost 10 tones) of mercury into the Wabigoon River, which was a source of drinking water and food for First Nations people who lived only 130 kilometres downstream from the mill.
By 1970, the Wabigoon River was polluted with chemical waste and the people of Grassy Narrows were suffering from mercury poisoning, displaying symptoms of Minamata disease named after the Japanese fishing village where it was first diagnosed in 1956.
Dryden executives insisted that the mercury occurred naturally and a 1971 provincial report suggested the same.
But Grassy Narrows residents were told to stop eating the fish and drinking the water from the River and the government closed down their commercial fishery. The decline in tourism and traditional way of life resulted in an unemployment rate that catapulted to 90 per cent.
“When the lodge closed because of the mercury contamination, that threw a lot of our people out of work,” said Chief Simon Fobister of Grassy Narrows First Nation. “The closure of the fishery also destroyed another cornerstone of our economy.”
Over the years, Fobister said it was extremely difficult to find the truth about how widespread the contamination was because the mill wouldn’t admit any responsibility for polluting the water and the government refused to take the matter seriously. But in 1975, Japanese scientist Dr. Masazumi Harada first visited Grassy Narrows and White Dog where he found symptoms of Minamata poisoning.
Since then, Harada has returned several times and found that long term low-level mercury exposure has produced symptoms of mercury poisoning in many members of the Grassy Narrows community. Although the federal government said the mercury levels are decreasing to acceptable levels, the health of band members continues to deteriorate.
Fobister is concerned that his people continue to suffer needlessly through no fault of their own. “Ontario has never met their obligation to settle with our community,” he added. “They’ve failed to compensate our people so we’re still struggling physically, emotionally and financially.”
By denying compensation to Grassy Narrows, Fobister said his people had no other option but to make it public in order to draw attention to the matter. On Wednesday, Grassy Narrows supporters marched to Queen’s Park to emphasize the seriousness of the injustice and make it known to all Canadians.
Today, many adult members of Grassy Narrows still suffer from chronic health problems while children are born with a range of developmental and neurological conditions.
“We must hold the government to account for their actions and their inactions,” said Ontario Regional Chief Angus Toulouse. “They cannot be allowed to turn their backs on a community that has been harmed.”
First Nations communities, including Grassy Narrows and White Dog, want what the rest of the country takes for granted: clean water, a comfortable home, good health, education and happiness.
So why is that so difficult to attain?
Until First Nations regain control over their territory, said Toulouse, by establishing an environmental centre where they can monitor their waters on an ongoing basis and provide training for their young people, nothing will change.
He wants the government to meet with First Nations communities, not only in Ontario but across Canada, to address the ongoing devastation caused by pulp and paper mills.
Chrissy Swain, a Grassy Narrows resident, recalled what life was like before the mercury pollution destroyed an economy and a way of life. When her people had a language and healthy lifestyles. “There was no drinking,” said Swain. “There was no drugs, no depending on welfare.”
When everyone had a responsibility in the community, lived off the land, ate the fish and the animals.
But now Swain can barely speak her language, her people so used to living off the government. “There’s a big gap between us and that life that we could have had,” she said. “All that environmental devastation, that’s the reason why.”
Now it’s an even bigger loss for her children because she can’t pass the language on to them. “So all they speak is English,” said Swain, “and they don’t go hunting, pick blueberries or eat the fish. Instead, they buy their food from a grocery store and don’t know about traditional ceremonies.”
This is why First Nations people will fight so hard to protect the land and the water. So they can regain their identity.
For 25 years, John Olthuis has helped the Grassy Narrows people in their struggle to regain their culture. As legal counsel, Olthuis said there are now two unfinished pieces of business: the work of the Mercury Disability Board and the restoration of the traditional economy.
A Board has been set up to compensate individuals with the symptoms of Minamata, but Olthuis said it’s not functioning properly. “The medical people are not keeping up with what’s happening in Japan,” he said.
“The long term effects of mercury are only now becoming evident so there has to be an independent look at the Board, the extent to which they have been properly interpreting the symptoms of Minamata so that more individuals who are affected by this disease will be to some extent compensated.”
According to Olthuis, Health Canada is exacerbating the situation by claiming now that the water is fine. “So people are starting to eat the fish again and that’s wrong,” he said. “And Health Canada has to be brought to account for that.”
(The governments of Ontario and Canada were also supposed to provide Grassy Narrows with fresh fish, but Olthuis said that was never done.)
“The CBC report last night suggested that Ontario had settled with the Grassy Narrows,” said Olthuis. “That’s categorically not the case. Ontario has made some contribution to the Mercury Disability Fund but since 1985 when then-Attorney General Ian Scott committed to continue the negotiations there have been a series of governments that have failed to do so.”
Only recently have the negotiations resumed.
“But the challenge is for the government to say ‘This is the land of the people of Grassy Narrows’,” said Olthuis. “It has to be restored. They have to get control over their land and clear cutting has to stop.
“Once that happens the culture can start to return and be as vibrant as it was before mercury hit.”
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