[R-G] Wave of suicide bids hits Kashechewan

[Macdonald Stainsby]

out of the headlines, out of mind, out of hope...

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20070206.wreserve06/BNStory/National


Wave of suicide bids hits reserve
Kashechewan residents also threatened by prospect of flooding
KATE HARRIES

>From Tuesday's Globe and Mail

KASHECHEWAN, ONT. - The beleaguered Northern Ontario native reserve that 
was evacuated in 2005 because of contaminated water is now being hit by 
a rising epidemic of youth suicide attempts and the prospect that the 
dike that protects it from floodwaters may fail this spring.

On Jan. 7, a 20-year-old man killed himself. Last month, 21 young people 
aged 9 to 23 attempted suicide, and two suicide pacts among girls aged 9 
to 12 were uncovered.

Exhausted health workers say they're close to the breaking point as they 
try to provide round-the-clock suicide watches.

"We fear something terrible is going to happen," said health director 
Edward Sutherland, appealing for additional resources. "We're dealing 
with a time bomb."

Asked whether the government is providing extra help, Health Canada 
spokeswoman Carole Saindon said the department funds three to six 
mental-health support workers in the community, and last year came up 
with an extra $350,000 for mental-health and suicide issues.

"At any given time, there are seven to nine nurses to address the health 
needs of the community," Ms. Saindon added.

But Mr. Sutherland said that is not happening. Health Canada funding 
covers only one mental-health worker, he said, and last year's extra 
funding provided for two more at any given time for three months.

As for nurses, there are five at present and, over the past year there 
have never been more than six, he said. Former Ontario cabinet minister 
Alan Pope, in his October, 2006, report, noted there were four nurses in 
Kashechewan at that time and called for additional services.

Crumbling infrastructure adds to the tension in a community that's 
currently being canvassed for its views on relocation options that could 
take five to 10 years to implement. With spring breakup 2½ months away, 
residents fear a catastrophic failure of the 10-year-old dike that 
encircles them.

Their concerns about the three-metre sand-and-gravel berm are justified, 
an expert report says.

"The Kashechewan First Nation is not adequately protected against ice 
jam flooding with the [dike] in its present condition," says a Dec. 22 
report by a panel of experts headed by Grant Smith of Dam Safety 
Engineering Services.

Poor design and shoddy construction were first identified by a 1998 
Ontario Hydro investigation, but no action was taken on recommended 
repairs, the report states.

A reinforced winter road crossing of the Albany River upstream of 
Kashechewan may have exacerbated the problem, the report says. For the 
past two years, the ice has been flooded and thickened so it can support 
heavy loads headed for the diamond mine being built by De Beers Canada 
at Attawapiskat.

Warming trends and increased rainfall have caused increasingly powerful 
ice-jam floods in recent years, the report says, prompting evacuations 
in April of 2005 and 2006. Within a few hours last April 22, water rose 
rapidly by four metres to within half a metre of the crest of the dike. 
It seeped through or under the dike at two locations and entered some 
outlets left open by a sluice-gate failure. The airstrip outside the 
dike was flooded, closing off that escape route.

Terrified residents were plucked to safety by helicopter. Chief Jonathan 
Solomon, who was away goose-hunting, recalls trying to reassure his wife 
by satellite phone while fearing the worst.

"People with young families have approached me and said they just don't 
want to be here" for a repeat emergency, he said. He's met with the 
government regarding the panel recommendations, which include a 
state-of-the-art advance warning system and construction of a 
high-ground area within the dike for use as a temporary refuge and helipad.

Tony Prudori of Indian and Northern Affairs says his department was 
briefed by the expert panel last week and is assessing what to do. One 
factor, he said, is what decision Kashechewan makes on relocation. Mr. 
Pope recommended that the community move to Timmins, 450 kilometres to 
the south.

Emily Faries of Laurentian University is heading a community 
consultation of all residents aged 12 and up. Her report on the 
community's preferred location is expected at the end of the month. 
Chief Solomon estimated that 90 per cent of an initial canvas of 400 
people favour moving to a site on higher ground 30 kilometres upriver.

The flood followed a health-related emergency evacuation after a local 
doctor raised the alarm in October, 2005, about endemic skin infections 
and other sickness caused by E.coli contamination of the drinking water. 
The federal government spent $16-million on that evacuation, and another 
$1-million to bring the
water-treatment plant up to standard.



READER COMMENT


   1.. jiri Z from Canada writes: Do you have an inkling that somehow, 
well ... we are not handling the Native issue correctly?
     a.. Posted 06/02/07 at 8:46 AM EST |
   2..
   Robert Schmidt from Toronto, Canada writes: Oh dear! Now, if this was 
a far northern Muslim community issue, apologists left and right would 
be popping up defending this individual right to cultural expression - 
including jihad, suicide and murder. Not to be provocative or anything, 
but isn't it possible this is "traditional Native Canadian culture" 
annual event? I does seem to happen every year. No one has ever raised 
one obvious issue, that being SAD (seasonal affective disorder) and 
vitimin C deficiency common in northern communities, especially in 
winter. Canada's federal and provincial health ministries, register for 
your placement NOW in Duh School!  Natch, we'll hear from the usual 
apologists who will rouse themselves from their fat verandas to admonish 
"evil white people" for things they BELIEVE happened in the past (and 
which never actually DID happen, but such is the Canadian affection for 
historical revisonism!)  Listening to the stupid debate with the 
uninformed is way TOO much like the Canadian House of Commons for my taste.
     a.. Posted 06/02/07 at 9:20 AM EST |
     b..

   3.. D D from Toronto, Canada writes: I found it a little disturbing 
that the first half of the article, which deals with the important issue 
of youth suicide, only discusses money. How much money is being spent by 
the government for mental health workers in the community, how much it 
costs to provide assistance, etc. Does anyone seriously believe that 
these young people are attempting suicide because some governmental 
agency is not allocating enough money to their community in some 
fashion? If it were that simple, it would be simple to fix. I think an 
informative article about this disturbing trend should at least attempt 
to address or highlight potential causes of the rash of suicide 
attempts. Not just the funding shortfall of mental health workers in 
response to the attempts. These articles always make it seem as thought 
problems can be solved by money. In reality, there are very few real 
problems in this world that can be solved by money, no matter how much 
of it we throw at them.
     a.. Posted 06/02/07 at 9:48 AM EST
     b..

   4.. jo bloom from toronto, Canada writes: SAD is not the 
problem....it's racist policies and poverty and horrible conditions that 
are contributing to suicide, not to mention lack of health services, 
affordable food, good systems, clean water....etc.... COLONIALISM did 
this to the first nations people of this land.....
     a.. Posted 06/02/07 at 9:53 AM EST |
     b..

   5.. Vern McPherson from Toronto, Canada writes: We can't continue to 
have reserves in remote areas without adequate facilities. And it's 
virtually impossible to build and maintain facilities in the middle of 
nowhere. That means end the reserve system in remote areas and move the 
people to built up locations. Funding a project that attempts to build a 
town nowhere in the north is a pipe dream. Natives need to choose what 
they want, to live on the land as their ancestors did or move into towns 
where facilities they are talking about really exist.





[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]



-- 
Macdonald Stainsby
http://independentmedia.ca/survivingcanada
http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/rad-green
In the contradiction lies the hope
    --Bertholt Brecht.