Grassy Narrows

With a federal election campaign just weeks away, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh scored a blow against Justin Trudeau's Indigenous bona fides on Monday, July 29, 2019, as he introduced a prominent First Nation chief as one of his party's candidates in northern Ontario.

New Democratic Party MPs urge Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to "show that his promises to Indigenous people aren’t empty" by addressing mercury poisoning in Grassy Narrows.

Some in the audience, who paid $1,500 each in order to attend the event, cheered the prime minister's dismissive remark, which was captured by cellphone cameras and circulated on social media. Trudeau showed more contrition when asked about the confrontation Thursday.

An Ontario First Nation suffering from generations of mercury poisoning still needs a treatment centre and help for children harmed by the toxic metal, its chief said on Wednesday, December 5, 2018.

The Ontario government says it's committed to clean and safe drinking water for Northern Ontario First Nations, but that the federal government should “step up to ensure this.”

NDP Leader Andrea Horwath handily won her Hamilton-Centre riding Thursday night, though hopes of being Ontario's next premier were dashed just half an hour after polls closed.

For decades, Grassy Narrows had to deal with deadly toxins released by industry, as successive governments looked the other way. It's an issue that has persisted while all three parties, the PCs, the New Democrats and the Liberals, were in power.

Environmental Commissioner Dianne Saxe said Ontario has turned a blind eye to "outrageous" pollution that's adversely affecting several Indigenous communities.

Canada's recent ratification of the Minamata convention on mercury is an important first step. Now the real work begins.

Mercury contamination has plagued the Grassy Narrows First Nation for decades.