Letter from Cat Lake
Chief to
Indigenous Services Minister
TML Weekly is
posting
below excerpts of a letter sent
by
Chief Matthew Keewaykapow of Cat Lake First Nation on February 5,
to Indigenous Services Minister Seamus O'Regan which
expresses the frustration of the First Nation in trying to get
Treaty-mandated assistance from the Trudeau Liberal government.
Subsequently, in the wake of an unsatisfactory response from
Minister O'Regan, the First Nation invoked Jordan's Principle on
February 14, in an attempt to get the federal government to
recognize the severity of the Cat Lake First Nation
crisis.[1]
***
In recent weeks, Cat Lake First Nation has been
relentlessly attempting to openly and honestly discuss and obtain
commitments from ISC [Indigenous Services Canada] regarding our
State of Emergency, declared on January 16. The State of
Emergency was seen as one of a "last resort" steps taken due to
the severely poor condition of housing within Cat Lake First
Nation because of under funding and outright ignoring of
conditions in Cat Lake by ISC personnel and officials.
[...]
When Cat Lake Council decided to tackle these
problems
head-on, Council's appointed representatives were met with
unrelenting barriers, outright refusals to discuss with
representatives despite multiple letters of direction from
myself, and multiple communications with your department. How
interesting it is that your department refuses to meet with
anyone or speak with anyone but me, while on the other hand, Cat
Lake Chief and Council has little to no access to meet with you
face to face in order for you to understand first-hand the trials
and tribulations as well as the brick walls that have been placed
in our path blocking correction of the wrongs that have been
experienced by Cat Lake First Nation.
To this end, since your staff wishes to meet only
with
the
Head of my Government, it is only right that we as the Government
of our Lands demand the same respect from you.
We have been told that we have not invited you to
come
to
Cat Lake. To our recollection, this is not correct. Many requests
to meet and discuss face to face the requirements of Cat Lake
First Nation personally with you have been made, including our
representatives and advisors; and yours.
With that being said, I, Chief Matthew
Keewaykapow of
Cat
Lake First Nation, specifically and officially invite you to
personally meet with myself, my council and our advisors and
technical people to discuss and strategize solutions of the
requirements, provide information, and background of this State
of Emergency existing in Cat Lake First Nation.
This meeting must take place by Thursday,
February 14,
2019.
We understand that any appropriations and approvals will take a
bit of time, however we must order items and have letters from
your Offices in order to move and have the urgently required
materials and trailers brought in to the Community prior to the
loss of the winter road.
[...]
A face to face meeting will result in an
understanding
between the Government of Canada and Cat Lake First Nation, by
which Canada must commit to immediately ending this emergency
which is literally killing people in Cat Lake and is causing a
huge expense in med-evacs and the health department, which is now
under your purview. The reduction in med-evacs in Cat Lake alone
is estimated to reduce costs by more than $2 million
annually...
[...]
Mr. Minister, I am trying with my Council and my
representatives to ensure that Cat Lake will not have to
evacuate. We do not wish to encumber Canada with another huge
expense only to achieve the required end that we have already
discussed ...
[...]
The best proposal is to evacuate to temporary
housing
within
Cat Lake. Trailers brought in and set up to move the people out
of the toxic homes.
Demolish the homes...with the residents taking
only
their
electronics, their private possessions and clothing...the balance
going into an expanded landfill for burial so the mould spores
will not be transferred to the temporary housing.
Build new homes over an additional 2-year
period...92
houses. The other 32 homes will be renovated and remediated over
a short period of time to be discussed.
[...]
The short term housing...trailers...requires
immediate
cash...that must be appropriated immediately. A month is too
late.
[...]
Mr. Minister, I respectfully implore you ... Our
winter road
will not last long ... Mother Nature has a way of bringing Spring
and the season of melting no matter how much we pray to extend
the transportation season to our remote Community. Materials and
equipment integral to this project have deadlines to be ordered
to be able to have the proper infrastructure in place to not
fail. As an example, the supplier of the fabric-covered
warehousing is discussing a decision date of February 11 in
order to meet our delivery requirements.
"We look forward to meeting with you well before
[February 14] if
you can....time is not our friend.
In Unity and Respect,
Matthew Keewaykapow,
Chief
Cat Lake First Nation
Note
1. Jordan's Principle is a
legal
rule named in memory of Jordan River Anderson, a child from
Norway
House Cree Nation in Manitoba who spent more than two years in a
hospital because of a jurisdictional dispute between the federal
and
provincial government. The five-year-old boy died in hospital
without
ever going home. It is a child-first principle intended to
resolve
jurisdictional disputes within, and between,
provincial/territorial and
federal governments concerning payment for services to Indigenous
children, and to ensure they have the same access to government
services as all other children in Canada, and that these services
are
provided immediately.
This article was published in
Volume 49 Number 5 - February 16, 2019
Article Link:
Letter from Cat Lake
Chief to
Indigenous Services Minister
Website: www.cpcml.ca
Email: editor@cpcml.ca
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