Ontario MP urges 'immediate steps' be taken in housing condition 'crisis' in Cat Lake

The member of parliament for Timmins-James Bay is urging Canada's Minister of Indigenous Services to take immediate action and establish an emergency task force to address the "immediate, medium and long term needs of Cat Lake."

"Conditions are so dire that it is estimated that 75 per cent of the housing on reserve requires demolition," Charlie Angus stated in a letter dated Monday to the new Minister of Indigenous Services, Seamus O'Regan. 

The First Nation, located about 600 kilometres north of Thunder Bay, Ont., declared a state of emergency on Jan. 17, over what leaders called deplorable housing conditions and serious health concerns.

In his Jan. 21 letter, Angus wrote that an increasing number of people have been medically evacuated and some have died from mould and other conditions in Cat Lake. Winter temperatures plunging below –40 C, are exacerbating those problems as people face "serious risk from substandard and unsafe homes."

"Such a crisis didn't just happen," he said in his letter. "Your predecessor and her officials ignored repeated calls for urgent meetings and meaningful discussion to work with the community. This failure to respond proactively has now plunged the community into a deep winter crisis that needs action."

O'Regan tweeted on Tuesday that a meeting will take place in about a week, consisting of government officials and community leaders.

"I recently spoke with [Cat Lake] Chief [Matthew] Keewaykapow as well as [Nishnawbe Aski Nation] Grand Chief [Alvin] Fiddler to understand their direct concerns on this very important matter, and affirm [Indigenous Services Canada's] commitment to working together on this."

Angus added in his letter that he is "astounded" that the work to help the community is being "put off" until next week, saying there is a "need for action now."

"This is not good enough given the dangerous temperatures," he wrote. "I am asking you to take immediate steps to establish an emergency task force and ensure qualified people on the ground to assess the situation to prepare a plan of response."

Having technical officials with Indigenous Services Canada meet with the First Nation during the week of Jan. 28 was agreed to by Keewaykapow and ministry officials, spokesperson Martine Stevens said in an email to CBC News. That meeting will be to "develop a plan of action to address the community's needs."

Stevens said the ministry has been working with Cat Lake since August 2018 investigating housing needs in the community, including funding the inspection of over 100 homes that highlighted the extent of the substandard conditions. The report recommended nearly 90 houses be demolished.

According to the federal government, 520 people live in Cat Lake.

Province 'ready to assist', Indigenous affairs minister says

Ontario's Indigenous Affairs Minister Greg Rickford also wrote his federal counterparts on Tuesday, calling for Ottawa to meet its responsibilities to First Nations "so that basic needs for housing on-reserve can be addressed," while pledging that the province "stands ready to assist."

"There continues to be a patchwork of meager and ineffective programs and services in the area of First Nation housing supports," Greg Rickford wrote in his letter to O'Regan and Carolyn Bennett, the federal minister of Crown-Indigenous relations.

"Although millions of dollars have been spent on collaborative development programs with Indigenous organizations, very little has been done to improve these programs in the long run."

Cat Lake's state of emergency declaration slammed both senior levels of government for "jurisdictional squabbling" over their concerns.

Rickford's letter said that Cat Lake and many other First Nations in the far north have houses that lack basic services, such as clean drinking water, adequate heating, ventilation and insulation.