The drinking water and sewage crisis in Kashechewan shows no signs of being resolved. Equipment failure led to sewage in the community’s health services building. Health-care workers did the best they could and relocated to the community’s school. With the spread of gastrointestinal illness linked to the water crisis, community officials said nurses are being called out and paramedics will follow. “I think the reason is just the recent discovery of cryptosporidium in the water plant and also in the distribution system and also in the sink,” said Tyson Wesley, executive director of Kashechewan First Nation. “So that kind of started the process of the nurses leaving as the water wasn’t safe to operate and some of them think that’s why Health Canada made the call to pull out the nurses now.” Wesley said 370 residents, including 32 families, will have to evacuate this week. “People that are there have to leave now because there are no facilities for health care,” he said. Wesley said it’s devastating news for residents who have been evacuated and are wondering when they can return home. He said the timeline is still unclear. No timeline to return “I just finished a call with our engineers and we’re still figuring out the timeline of when the repairs will be made and everything else that needs to be done, like flushing the distribution centre and also flushing individual houses,” Wesley said. “So, there is still a long way to go and now right now, there’s no timeframe.” He said nobody in Canada should be getting sick from having no access to clean water. While 67 cases of cryptosporidium have been confirmed, Wesley said that number is low and suggests there are many more. “Shame on Canada and shame on the governments, both Ontario and Canada, to keep letting this happen in First Nations communities,” Wesley said. In a statement to CTV News, Public Safety Canada said it’s keeping in close contact with Indigenous Services Canada and that the Indigenous Services Minister Mandy Gull-Masty is in direct contact with Kashechewan Chief Hosea Wesley about their immediate priorities to protect community members. However, Gull-Masty has yet to visit the community in person, despite invitations being extended to her. Residents want the federal and provincial governments to make good on their promise to relocate the community because when the water and sewer systems eventually get repaired, people will be faced with having to evacuate again during spring flooding. RELATED STORIES:
