• Putting $89 million in a trust to fund the construction and operation of a mercury care home and treatment centre,

• Providing compensation to the residents of Grassy Narrows for the ongoing crisis,

• Implementing the recommendations of a community health assessment,

• Recognizing the Grassy Narrows Land Declaration and decision to create an Indigenous Sovereignty and Protected Area on the Grassy Narrows territory,

• Meeting with the residents of Grassy Narrows.

The letters, which were written by Chief Rudy Turtle and three other councillors, asked the party leaders to reply by Oct. 11.

Green Party leader Elizabeth May responded directly to the council’s questions, vowing to “redressing the wrongs committed against your First Nation as best as possible.

“The federal government needs to step up and provide your community with the supports they need, including specialized treatment for the health impacts of mercury contamination,” May wrote in her letter. “We cannot let this support be delayed any further by bureaucratic funding disputes.”

The letters, which were written by Chief Rudy Turtle and three other councillors, asked the party leaders to reply by Oct. 11.

Green Party leader Elizabeth May responded directly to the council’s questions, vowing to “redressing the wrongs committed against your First Nation as best as possible.

“The federal government needs to step up and provide your community with the supports they need, including specialized treatment for the health impacts of mercury contamination,” May wrote in her letter. “We cannot let this support be delayed any further by bureaucratic funding disputes.”

Grassy Narrows has long called for a specialized health facility where people living with the lasting impacts of mercury poisoning — including impaired peripheral vision, hearing and speech — can seek treatment.

The contamination occurred when a paper mill in Dryden, Ont., dumped 9,000 kilograms of the substance in the English-Wabigoon River system in the 1960s.

Last May, the federal government failed to reach a planned agreement on the specialized facility. “I am disappointed, but we are not done,” Turtle said at the time, following lengthy negotiations with Indigenous Services Minister Seamus O’Regan.

According to proposals obtained by the Star, Ottawa offered to contribute $10.5 million to the facility, in addition to ongoing operating funding, a figure that Turtle has said is far less than needed.

The Green Party committed to covering the $89 million cost proposed by the First Nation, while the NDP said it would “immediately commit to spending $19 million to get construction of the treatment centre started.”

The Greens and NDP also vowed to compensate residents for the mercury contamination, but did not specify individual amounts.

“The people of Grassy Narrows are victims of corporate malfeasance, and have been completely abandoned by their federal government which has consistently failed to address the pain and suffering caused by this disaster,” the NDP wrote. “We will ensure that all people living in Grassy Narrows receive the justice they deserve.”

The Liberals have said they have guaranteed $10 million to start construction of the mercury treatment facility and have committed to ongoing operational funding. But critics say the project is no further ahead.

Both the NDP and the Greens have dismissed Ottawa’s efforts as “government inaction.”

“For 50 years you have been victims of federal government inaction,” wrote the NDP in its reply. “New Democrats are determined to change this fact and help your people and your community heal.”