Judy DaSilva, an environmental health coordinator from Grassy Narrows First Nation, illustrates the ongoing struggle for her community, which has suffered from mercury poisoning since the 1960s due to industrial waste from the Dryden Paper Mill. Community members held a vigil at Queen's Park, demanding government intervention to stop environmental degradation and provide compensation. Professor Jeffrey Ansloos drew connections between environmental harm and mental health issues among Indigenous communities. Despite repeated attempts, Ontario's Premier Doug Ford has refused to meet with Grassy Narrows leaders, deepening community frustrations over the lack of support and acknowledgment of their plight.
For me, this is really, really hard to keep coming back here and to call on Doug Ford to do the right thing for my community.
There is a strong link between poor mental health and environmental harms in First Nations in Ontario.
An estimated 90 percent of Grassy Narrows's population has symptoms of mercury poisoning, which can cause issues including tremors.
They want the provincial government to stop the mill from dumping toxins in the water, end all industrial threats, and to compensate affected community members.
#grassy-narrows #mercury-poisoning #indigenous-health #environmental-justice #government-accountability
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