Re: Grassy Narrows must be cleaned up now, Opinion June 6

Grassy Narrows must be cleaned up now, Opinion June 6

The government has known about the mercury poisoning of the people of Grassy Narrows for years and done little or nothing to change it. Talk is cheap, writing another paper on the issue changes nothing. It is already clear what must be done. This should be a human rights issue.

I have been deeply convicted by our inaction for the native people of Canada. We read about their poverty and the inhumane conditions many of them live in, their lack of safe drinking water and lack of proper bathroom facilities in many of their homes.

We read about the many health issues caused by their living conditions, we shake our heads and do nothing. We commiserate about the increasing number of suicides in that population but do nothing. We nod in agreement when we read that something should be done but nothing has happened to make their lives better and more equitable.

It is unconscionable that this is still going on in a wealthy country like Canada. We read about poverty in what we have deemed Third World countries, rush to aid, while we have similar conditions in our own backyard.

We must demand that our government act now and fully in righting these inhumane conditions for our fellow Canadians. We cannot continue to turn a blind eye to what is happening to the people in our own land.

We by our inaction are allowing people to suffer and die. We may not be the direct cause of their circumstances, but by being silent we are allowing what is happening to them.

Beatrice Cleary, North York

So a group of young people from Grassy Narrows, hoping against hope to see the Ontario legislature take action to end the poisoning of their water system in northern Ontario, enters Queens Park wearing T-shirts bearing the slogan “Water is sacred.” Sadly, the only action they got to witness was their own ejection from the chamber based on the speaker’s ludicrous judgment that the slogan on their chests was political and thus unacceptable.

How sad for these students to be treated, by their own legislators, to a classic display of WASP ignorance. I strongly suggest that if this is the best Mr. Speaker can do then it is high time for him to step down. Time also, for the rest of our current representatives to hang their heads in shame for not having challenged that absurd ruling.

Where just a few quiet words explaining the usual protocol in the chamber would have sufficed, what these young folk got was blunt and ignorant rejection based on an exceedingly narrow and “waspish” interpretation of the rules.

How sad and quite frankly, how despicable!

Eric Balkind, Gore Bay

This cri de coeur from Simon Fobister concerns what Tom Clancy would call “a clear and present danger,” one which has been known to be such for many years.

Why do both the provincial and federal leadership continue to make false promises which they both know they will do absolutely nothing about? The costs of remediation, as much as they may be, do not even come close to what is spent wastefully in other ways. It is a circumstance which makes it very difficult to remain “a proud Canadian.”

I would venture that, had a similar situation been allowed to arise in one of the country’s more populated centres, it would have been remedied many years ago. Non-indigenous votes do count.

Ron Gibbens, Richmond Hill

I applaud the initiative taken by the teenagers from Grassy Narrows First Nations to demand the province take action to clean up mercury in the water supply. In her book, “Blue Future” Maude Barlow states that “water must be regarded as a public trust and preserved as such.”

Our provincial government has an ethical imperative to act now rather than later. Too much time has already been taken by the government to take action to clean up this disaster.

More study on what exactly should be done is a stall tactic. Bravo to the teenagers for their advocacy work to remedy the situation.

Shari Baker, Toronto

The Ontario Liberals have a lot of money in the campaign coffers. Why not donate a portion to the clean-up of mercury from the waters around Grassy Narrows? The Liberals would curry a lot of favour throughout the province for its generous action and that action would convert to votes.

I can’t think of a better way to allocate those funds.

Betty Walton, Toronto