BEARSKIN LAKE - The situation in Bearskin Lake First Nation, which has been overwhelmed by the surging cases of COVID-19, is growing worse as the community sees little response for their call for help from the federal government, says Charles Fox, community liaison.
“We’re overwhelmed, we need assistance in all categories; medical, transportation, personnel, food, water, vehicles, the list goes on and on. And when you have the government responding that they’re thinking of sending the military, I haven’t seen anything yet,” said Fox.
“They’re equating that to having the military dealing with the wood cutting issues and distributing wood to the membership.”
Fox says that the government has offered to subsidize relief efforts up to $1.1 million, but he says that amount will only cover the cost of chartering in personnel and is not sufficient.
“The estimate that we had was that we would need about a million dollars worth of charters alone to address getting personnel in there,” said Fox.
“We’re not talking about groceries, we’re not talking about water that needs to be sent in, we’re not talking about supplies and materials related to medical. I mean, you’ve got to look at the whole picture.”
Chief Lefty Kamenawatamin says that his front-line workers want to see help come in as they are quickly being overwhelmed physically and mentally.
“I don’t know if we can last any longer, If we could have some kind of response from the government, that would be appreciated at this time. We need the help now and boots on the ground,” Kamenawatamin said.
Bearskin Lake First Nation, located north of Sioux Lookout, declared a state of emergency in late December and went into lockdown due to the COVID-19 outbreak. Kamenawatamin also publicly asked Ottawa for financial and other supports.
Many of the front-line personnel have been quarantined during the outbreak which has put a halt on day-to-day operations needed to keep the community safe and only roughly 30 people with the community are currently still healthy according to Kamenawatamin.
Timmins-James Bay MP Charlie Angus also called on the federal government to help the community and deploy military help on the ground.
“When is the federal government going to step up with their moral and legal responsibility to respond to the reasonable call of the people of Bearskin Lake for help?” Angus said.
“When are they going to look at this need to support other First Nation communities that may be facing similar situations? This is an issue the prime minister needs to address, and he needs to address it quickly.”
“Because we’re remote and we’re a First Nation, people don’t give a damn,” said Fox.
Kamenawatamin also contacted the Red Cross and said that what they had to offer could be most beneficial to the community.
