Kashechewan calls for the resignation of Canada’s Indigenous Services minister

Kashechewan First Nation has evacuated most of its 2,300 residents in the last two months because of compromised water infrastructure and has dealt with an outbreak of cryptosporidium. (File)

Kashechewan First Nation is calling for the resignation of Mandy Gull-Masty, the Minister of Indigenous Services.

In an open letter dated March 5, officials say Gull-Masty has not visited the community, which has evacuated most of its 2,300 residents in the last two months and has dealt with an outbreak of cryptosporidium.

The disease is caused by a parasite and has been linked to compromised water infrastructure in Kashechewan that led to the evacuation. Six people have died in the two months since the emergency was declared, but officials have not said whether the deaths are related to the contaminated water.

Tyson Wesley, executive director of the First Nation, told CTV News Northern Ontario that Gull-Masty committed to visiting Kashechewan to see the situation for herself, but has failed to do so.

A planned visit late last month was cancelled at the last minute over logistical issues, Wesley said. He said he thinks those issues were “overstated.”

“I think it’s just her not coming to the community,” Wesley said.

Residents want to see her in the community, he said.

The least she could do is “hear them out and (hear) what’s happening in our community and the frustration,” Wesley said.

“So it’s just disappointing … And I think today is the day that we kind of said, OK, we waited long enough. It’s been two months since we declared our emergency and just no action, no commitments to visiting us in our time of need.”

In the open letter, Kashechewan Chief Hosea Wesley said residents are angry following repeated requests for Gull-Masty to visit the community, or at least one of the evacuation sites.

“Leadership in crisis means showing up,” the chief said in the letter.

“Elders are displaced and our community is grieving. Yet the minister responsible for Indigenous Services has not come to see the situation for herself.”

More than 10 years after the governing Liberals promised to end long-term boil water advisories, problems persist, he added.

“We are not a file to be managed,” the chief said.

“We are families living through a prolonged emergency. If the minister cannot demonstrate the leadership needed at this moment, then she should step aside.”

Tyson Wesley said the community’s engineers are working with contractors to get a schedule in place to fix the problems with the water system, but they are still not sure when that will happen.

No clear date

“There’s no clear date on when we’ll have safe drinking water again, but they’re working hard on getting this there,” Wesley said.

“We don’t want to make any mistakes and try to rush this. We want to make sure that we’re doing all of this correctly and making sure that our community members can come back to a safe community and safe, reliable water.”

Compounding the problems is the fact that the spring melt is drawing near, an event that often leads to flooding in the First Nation and evacuations.

“In a month or two, the river that we’re close to will break up and we’ll kind of put us in this situation where it will be in danger,” he said.

“So it’s just a constant threat, a constant emergency that we’re in ... which is causing a lot of distress, a lot of frustration among our people.”

Indigenous Services Canada did not respond to messages from CTV News seeking comment before deadline.