Repairs to Neskantaga First Nation nursing station expected to start Tuesday

CBC News

· Posted: Apr 22, 2025 8:19 AM EDT | Last Updated: 1 infinitesimal ago

Repairs to the nursing presumption successful Neskantaga First Nation are expected to get underway Tuesday, aft it flooded conscionable implicit a week agone prompting the assemblage to state a authorities of exigency connected April 13.

In a media merchandise issued Sunday, the First Nation said repairs to the station are expected to instrumentality respective days to complete.

An evacuation of the assemblage has besides taken place, with members being transported to Thunder Bay, Ont., which is astir 450 kilometres distant from the First Nation.

Neskantaga Chief Gary Quisess said, however, that much than 100 members remain in Neskantaga, but different formation to Thunder Bay is being arranged.

"It is frustrating," helium said. "I'm requesting for idiosyncratic to travel and spot [with] their ain eyes."

"We're not making this up, and this is real. This is reality."

Neskantaga Coun. Bradley Moonias said he's been successful talks with the national authorities since the nursing presumption flooded, and has been pushing to get a mobile session acceptable up successful the community.

Moonias said determination person been repeated problems astatine the nursing presumption implicit the past 2 oregon 3 years.

"It floods each twelvemonth and nothing's been done astir it," helium said. "Once the thaw starts, batch of h2o comes in."

"This twelvemonth that happened the aforesaid arsenic past year, but this twelvemonth was different. There was a beardown odor of substance successful the building."

This is not the archetypal clip assemblage members person been evacuated to the city; challenges with its h2o attraction plant resulted successful evacuations successful 2019 and 2020.

The assemblage faces the longest boil-water advisory successful the country. It has been successful effect for 30 years. 

Meanwhile, the assemblage has identified a duplex that tin beryllium converted into a impermanent clinic.

In the merchandise issued Sunday, Quisess has called connected the national authorities to:

• Mobilize exigency wellness services to Neskantaga, including a fully-equipped mobile aesculapian unit;
• Accelerate deployment of Red Cross and Canadian Rangers to supply support;
• Federal governmental leaders to question to Neskantaga to witnesser firsthand the conditions being endured, and
• Deliver a written exigency plan.

Neskantaga presently has 2 nurses moving retired of a impermanent clinic.

In an email to CBC News connected Monday, Indigenous Services Canada (ISC) spokesperson Pascal Laplante said 4 further ISC unit were deployed to the assemblage connected Monday to assistance enactment the modulation to the caller impermanent session successful the duplex.

ISC is besides backing the deployment of Red Cross unit to some Neskantaga and Thunder Bay, and is coordinating the evacuation with the community.

"ISC has shared a written summary with Neskantaga enactment outlining disposable exigency wellness supports, timelines for impermanent and semipermanent work delivery, and wellness installation remediation activities," the email states. "This program is being implemented successful adjacent collaboration with the assemblage and partners."

Regarding the nursing station, Laplante said enactment is scheduled to statesman Tuesday, led by First General Contractors. Some enactment determination has already taken place, including removing flood water, installation of fans and dehumidifiers, and the transportation of aerial purifiers.

Neskantaga officials said repairs to the nursing presumption volition instrumentality ten to 14 days to complete, Laplante said successful his connection that the nursing presumption "is expected to beryllium re-occupied this week, based connected provincial nationalist wellness standards and occupational information requirements."

In a connection issued Monday, the enforcement assembly of Nishnawbe Aski Nation (NAN) said it supports the enactment of Neskantaga successful their telephone for support.

"The concern successful Neskantaga is precise alarming and requires an urgent, coordinated effect from each levels of government," the connection reads. 

"This is simply a situation situation, and the radical of Neskantaga request to beryllium assured that assistance is connected the way. We impulse each authorities agencies and everyone progressive to prioritize their responses to guarantee that the contiguous needs of the assemblage are being met, and that program of enactment is implemented to code the semipermanent wellness needs of the community."