More than three years after the Canadian government agreed to fund a in-community mercury poisoning care home for Grassy Narrows First Nation, construction hasn’t started, estimated costs are skyrocketing, and the chief is questioning the prime minister’s commitment.

“It makes me very uneasy,” said Rudy Turtle of the situation facing his community, also known as Asubpeeschoseewagong Netum Anishinabek, about 90 kilometres north of Kenora, Ont.

“A few years ago, when Trudeau was out campaigning, he said on national television that money wouldn’t be an issue building the treatment centre. Now, it’s kind of like they’re backing down on their word.”

The federal government and Grassy Narrows signed a $19.5-million deal in April 2020 for the centre’s community-led design and construction, which they followed with $68.9 million more in 2021 for operations and maintenance.

That brought the cash available to build and run the centre to nearly $90 million. But Turtle said this week the estimated cost of just construction is now $80 million — three times more than initially budgeted — which the government has, so far, not agreed to grant.

Minister says pandemic to blame

Indigenous Services Minister Patty Hajdu attributed the cost overruns and delays to two things: the COVID-19 pandemic, which hit Canada soon after the cash was announced, and the specialized nature of the facility.

Hajdu said she needs special authority to put another $60 million toward the project and must work with the Finance Department and the Treasury Board to get it. She promised to seek approval but couldn’t guarantee Grassy Narrows will get the extra cash, or when Turtle will get an answer.

“I share the chief’s frustration at unacceptable delays,” said Hajdu, pointing again to the soaring cost of infrastructure projects since the pandemic hit.

“The government of Canada, in principle, has said that we will build this treatment facility, and now I need the authorities in order to commit the significant cost overrun related to the delays.”

Turtle said every day counts for those living with mercury poisoning.

“Am I pleased? Not really, because I think she can do better,” he said of Hajdu.

“But I’ll have to wait, I guess. I hope she does do everything within her power when she goes up to bat.”

‘Beyond disrespectful,’ says NDP MP

Between 1962 and 1970, a chemical plant upstream dumped an estimated nine tonnes of mercury into the English-Wabigoon River system, impacting both Grassy Narrows and Whitedog First Nations.

Mercury moves up the food chain, accumulating in greater amounts as organisms eat other organisms. The fish in the river, which the people from Grassy Narrows relied on as a staple in their diet, were contaminated. 

It is estimated 90 per cent of the population in Grassy Narrows has symptoms of mercury poisoning. Mercury poisoning causes tremors, insomnia, memory loss, neuromuscular effects, headaches and cognitive and motor dysfunction among other things, according to the World Health Organization.

Whitedog, a member of Wabaseemoong Independent Nations, suffered similar impacts and also received a commitment for a care facility. 

Trudeau’s Liberals first committed to the Grassy Narrows centre in 2017 but couldn’t reach a deal on it. It became an election issue in 2019 after Trudeau responded to a Grassy Narrows protester who confronted him at a fundraiser by saying, “Thank you for your donation.”

His critics panned the comment as callous, and the prime minister apologized for it. Turtle ran in the 2019 election for the NDP, and the party continues to press the Liberals on the issue.

Churchill-Keewatinook Aski NDP MP Niki Ashton told CBC News the situation reveals a Liberal government focused too much on optics.

She said it’s “beyond disrespectful and insulting” to the First Nation to see the project mired in uncertainty and red tape, given the fanfare with which federal politicians made the pledge.

“Enough with the games when it comes to Grassy Narrows. Enough with the theatre, the public relations effort,” she said.

“It’s time for them to start living up to their own promises.”

Hajdu’s department said via statement the project will take 24 to 36 months to complete once construction begins, but not when that might be.