THUNDER BAY – The chair of the Indigenous caucus finds himself at odds with both a Thunder Bay human rights lawyer and Indigenous leadership for saying he doesn’t believe the city is in crisis.
The war of words escalated this week after Liberal MP Rusnak and fellow lawyer Chantelle Bryson began sparring on social media after the Thunder Bay-Rainy River representative announced he wanted to hold a reconciliation summit in Thunder Bay to help find solutions to growing concerns of racism in the city.
The summit also comes in the aftermath of the deaths of Indigenous teenagers Tammy Keeash and Josiah Begg, who both disappeared in Thunder Bay on May 6 and were later found dead in local waterways.
In a series of tweets sent Thursday morning, Bryson accused the government and other political leaders in Canada of doing nothing to enact the recommendations that arose from last year’s inquest into the death of seven Aboriginal youth attending school in Thunder Bay between 2001 and 2011.
“We are pointing fingers at you and your party and other parties who fail to implement while body count grows,” Bryson said.
Rusnak, in a Twitter post, acknowledged there are issues in Thunder Bay that need solutions, then called out Bryson, asking her what she had done to change the system and build relationships.
Rusnak, who is Aboriginal, was upset at Bryson’s comments.
“As a First Nation person living in Thunder Bay I take offence to someone who hasn’t lived my life, attacking me for trying to create positive change. I didn’t say everything is hunky dory or that the status quo is acceptable, but I have confidence in our institutions,” Rusnak wrote.
“I agree there are bad apples and there are systematic changes that are needed, but we need to come together to start the task of finding solutions, not just pointing fingers. Those who profit off the crisis generally attack those trying to change the system.”
Nishnawbe Aski Nation Deputy Grand Chief Derek Fox weighed in, challenging Rusnak – whom he called a friend – to change his stance.
“I can understand the situation he is in, the politics of making your voters and city look bad, but sometimes for the sake of being a true leader and doing so with conviction, in this case saving young people’s lives, truth must be spoken,” Fox wrote.
Fox said there is nothing positive about the loss of young First Nations lives, adding students return to Thunder Bay in 12 short weeks and parents are living in fear because of the crisis in the city.
“I only speak for the parent who sends their child to Thunder Bay for school or other reasons with a fear they may return in a casket. In my opinion, that’s a crisis,” Fox said.
Bryson later said Rusnak blocked her on Twitter.
NAN Grand Chief Alvin Fiddler, reacting to Rusnak saying the city wasn’t in crisis, on Tuesday said that makes Rusnak “part of the problem.”
