NDP Statement on Grassy Narrows mercury poisoning
KENORA, ON – NDP Aboriginal Affairs Critic, Sarah Campbell, made the following statement concerning mercury poisoning in the Grassy Narrows First Nations community following a visit by Japanese researchers and experts in Minamata disease.
“In 2010 a government commissioned study confirmed what the people of Grassy Narrows already knew: that they were in fact experiencing the devastating long-term health effects of mercury exposure.
The recent trip to the Grassy Narrows First Nation by the world’s leading experts in Minamata disease was important, but the people there shouldn’t have to rely on the interest of Japanese researchers to shed light on what they’ve been experiencing for over 40 years.
A made-in-Ontario problem should have a made-in-Ontario solution.
New Democrats renew our call, alongside the people of Grassy Narrows, for the establishment of a health centre for the treatment and study of mercury poisoning. Such a centre not only has the potential to alleviate suffering, but also to create badly needed local jobs, and would become a hub of scientific and medical research and innovation.”
