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Attawapiskat Healing Centre Now Temporary Shelter, Says Ottawa

Attawapiskat

First Posted: 12/24/11 03:26 PM ET Updated: 12/24/11 03:44 PM ET

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ATTAWAPISKAT, Ont. - A healing centre in the troubled Attawapiskat reserve has been turned into a temporary shelter as the band struggles with a housing crisis.

The retrofiting of the shelter is aimed at providing temporary shelter until more permanent housing arrives.

The federal government has purchased 22 new modular houses, with the hope that they'll be in place later this winter.

Aboriginal affairs minister John Duncan says families in the northern Ontario community now have access to "safe, warm, dry shelter."

The Attawapiskat First Nation declared an emergency in October because 25 families were living in housing too flimsy to face the harsh winter.

In response, the Red Cross raised $300,000 from Canadian donors and flew in emergency supplies for families in the most precarious conditions.

Meanwhile, Ottawa has placed the band's finances in the hands of a third-party manager, accusing leaders of mismanaging federal money.

The decision has infuriated band leaders and sparked a legal fight.

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ATTAWAPISKAT, Ont. - A healing centre in the troubled Attawapiskat reserve has been turned into a temporary shelter as the band struggles with a housing crisis.The retrofiting of the shelter is aimed ...
ATTAWAPISKAT, Ont. - A healing centre in the troubled Attawapiskat reserve has been turned into a temporary shelter as the band struggles with a housing crisis.The retrofiting of the shelter is aimed ...
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brianmouland
24 Fans
 
11:10 PM on 12/25/2011
Is it good enough for Chief Zamboni
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
All Seeing Guy
Center of the storm
437 Fans
01:22 AM on 12/26/2011
Depends, does it have imported tile, marble and an oversize double garage with plenty of room for the caddy?
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GeralR
12 Fans
10:27 PM on 12/26/2011
Good one. It's several km out of town on an otherwise unpopulated dirt road - not exactly a fun walk to school. Plumbing is substandard and water supply is marginal. One of the hold-ups was the inability to get permits for conversion to a residence. Why don't you go on up and hang out in February? If it doesn't kill you, it makes you stronger.
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Leywood Luckyjack
21 Fans
11:44 AM on 12/25/2011
If possible have a Merry Christmas. My prayers are with you for a much better New Year to come in peace and mutual respect.
Blessed Be
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gravescanada
673 Fans
 
05:12 AM on 12/25/2011
No real answers for this problem. You have people who think the Natives get to much, and you have people who think they get to little. I would like to remind every one that what caused the massive flooding in the homes on the Attawapiskat reserve was caused by an event on March 5, 2005, that pushed the community toward its current dire state of affairs.
Attawapiskat resident Jackie Hookimaw still remembers that moment.
“My father, he noticed at three in the morning…there was a big awful smell and there was something leaking into the basement,” said Hookimaw.
A sewage backup flooded the dirt basement floors of several homes in the community, including Hookimaw’s parent’s home.
The sewage backup happened around the same time that De Beers, the international diamond company currently operating a mine 90 kilometers from the community, disposed their sewage sludge into the community’s lift station, said Hookimaw.

http://aptn.ca/pages/news/2011/12/13/de-beers-decision-to-dump-sewage-into-attawapiskat-played-role-in-current-housing-crisis/
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CanadaStan
Cogito ergo spud, I think, therefore I yam
174 Fans
05:00 PM on 12/24/2011
http://www.fraserinstitute.org/research-news/news/display.aspx?id=2147484000

"Imagine two small Ontario towns. One is a reserve that blocks an outside investigation into its $31.2 million annual operating budget. That town, Attawapiskat First Nation, has 1,549 people on the reserve according to the last census.

Now imagine another town, a non-Native one, where recent budget estimates peg its annual operating expenditures at $8.4 million. That’s the township of Atikokan, near Thunder Bay, with 3,293 people.

Careful readers will notice that the larger town, Atikokan, has a much smaller operating budget than does Attawapiskat.

What’s additionally curious is where the money is spent. According to Attawapiskat’s latest budget documents, $11.2 million went to salaries, wages and employee benefits. That equates to $7,249 per reserve resident on just compensation-related expenditures.

In contrast, according to the latest available estimates from Atikokan, that town spends just under $3-million on salaries and benefits, or $904 per person. "
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SayBlade
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709 Fans
06:55 PM on 12/24/2011
This is not a fair comparison. There are big differences between the two communities. For starters, Atikokan is served by roads and is near a larger centre so the costs of supplies for the town are much lower and there are more employment options for residents. As a municipality and not a reserve, Atikokan operates differently.

To do a fair comparison, you would need to find another reserve of similar size, with no roads except ice roads in winter in an isolated area.
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Leywood Luckyjack
21 Fans
11:51 AM on 12/25/2011
I agree the cost of getting things there must be huge. When there's no roads in the summer you pack everything in or hire a helicopter. Wonder how much it cost to do research into their inherited problem from the corporate neighbors?
In fact I wonder how much it costs to live there flat out and how hard it must be with the underlying health problems. Maybe the best would be to help our neighbors eh? When the s---'s been cleaned up and life is back to normal then add up the other stuff and work on that. Name calling and blame casting haven't fixed anything yet.
Merry Christmas eh
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Tony frm Banff
Search for truth,not spin
209 Fans
08:46 PM on 12/25/2011
And dont forget that money for Attawapiskat is also used for education and healthcare, so really stop making yourself sound like someone who does not like First Nations people.
Alot of people are not really informed of the situation, so please research just a little deeper, OK
stan.
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reedunculous
7 Fans
04:02 PM on 12/24/2011
Whose side of the family are these folks on?
I don't remember inviting them to the BBQ.
And they're kicking the dog.
Must be your side!
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