Must build trust

It should actually be quite difficult to come up with a new way to fail the people of the Grassy Narrows and Whitedog First Nations. That’s how much they’ve been through already.

The old Dryden paper mill dumped 10 tonnes of mercury into the Wabigoon River system between 1962 and 1970. That polluted the water and poisoned the fish. It ended their way of life as a commercial fishing community, and left generations of residents with the debilitating effects of mercury poisoning.

Government reaction to this environmental and health crisis has always been, at first, to deny the severity of the problem. And, when forced to admit how bad things really are, the solutions have fallen far short of what’s needed.

And now the community is in turmoil again.

The longtime neurologist appointed by the board to assess adults for possible symptoms of mercury poisoning has quit and the chair of the compensation board is leaving her position shortly. And there’s a letter circulating alleging insensitivity and bias against Indigenous peoples.

Those leaving say there’s no problem with bias but, clearly, at least some community members feel differently.

This past week, Ontario finally raised and indexed to inflation the disability benefit payments, which haven’t increased since the board was set up three decades ago.

That’s an important step, but the community needs to believe the compensation board is treating them fairly when it comes to determining payments. Ontario must take the necessary steps to provide that assurance.

This community has been failed too long and too often already.