Queens Park shut down by Grassy Narrows supporters with chemical dump
Banner reads: When will you clean it Wynne?
Toronto – Today, Grassy Narrows First Nation dumped a barrel of a substance that appeared to be mercury in front of Queens Park – forming a shiny pool of slow flowing silver metallic liquid. Queens Park security responded immediately and shut down the front entrance of the legislature, while teams for hazardous materials, a bomb squad, and dozens of police officers arrived shortly after and evacuated the entire front lawn.
Toronto – Last summer Kas Glowaki, a former Dryden mill worker, made a shocking confession. In an email letter Glowaki wrote that his conscience forced him to admit to participating in the shallow burial of 50 barrels of salt and highly toxic liquid mercury in a pit behind the Dryden mill in 1972 upstream from Grassy Narrows First Nation. When the former Grassy Narrows chief forwarded the letter to Ontario government officials over six months ago they responded by assuring him that the infamous Dryden pulp mill “is not a source of mercury.”
Today, a Toronto Star investigation exposed that Ontario has neglected to clean up, or even locate, Glowaki’s reported mercury poison dump. Ontario officials admitted to the Toronto Star that they had not tested mercury levels in Wabigoon River water since 1980 – the one test that could confirm whether the old mill site is leaking mercury poison.
Over 300 people gathered in Toronto at Ryerson University on Tuesday, May 31, 2016 to hear from Judy Da Silva and Chief Simon Fobister of Grassy Narrows, Andrea Chrisjohn from Toronto Council Fire and filmmaker Avi Lewis. The event also included powerful speeches from Grassy Narrows youth who also performed their hit song ‘Home to Me‘.
Make sure to join Grassy Narrows on Thursday, June 2nd at 12pm at Queens Park in Toronto for River Run 2016. If you haven’t yet, please sign this petition.
Today Grassy Narrows First Nation addressed an expert committee of the United Nations which is currently reviewing Canada and Ontario’s record on human rights. Grassy Narrows is calling on the UN to hold Canada to account for failing to clean up mercury poison in their river and neglecting to provide safe tap water.
May 31 & June 2: Grassy Narrows people will travel 1,700 km to Toronto to call on Ontario Premier Wynne to finally clean up the 9,000 kg of mercury that were dumped in our river in the 1960’s. Join us as at two key events we demand justice for our people and protection for the waters and forests that give life.
RELEASE Thursday June 23, 2016
