NDP Leader calls on the Ford government to send emergency health team to Cat Lake now

During question period on Monday, NDP Leader Andrea Horwath supported repeated calls from Cat Lake First Nation, and Kiiwetinoong NDP MPP Sol Mamakwa, for the Ford government to send an emergency medical team to the community immediately. Cat Lake First Nation declared a state of emergency due to black mold over a month ago, and the Ford government has yet to take any measures to address the health crisis.

 

“As Sol Mamakwa, the NDP member for Kiiwetinoong told the Chamber last week, children and families in Cat Lake are living in conditions that are unsafe and unacceptable in a province like Ontario,” said Horwath. “One woman has died. This is an urgent matter – and the families seeing rashes on their children’s bodies don’t want to hear about jurisdictional squabbles.”

 

Horwath asked the Ford government directly in the legislature: “Will this government send the requested community health assessment team to Cat Lake First Nation immediately?”

 

Horwath told the legislature since the state of emergency was declared over a month ago, children continue to fall seriously ill, and they need urgent action and medical assistance. “When will the province step up and do their part as a signatory to Treaty 9, dispatch the medical professionals needed to work with local health authorities, assess the situation, diagnose, treat and follow-up on the medical crisis in Cat Lake First Nation?”