By Ottawa Metro News, October 24, 2017
The Ontario government has, for decades, turned a blind eye to “outrageous” pollution causing serious health effects in Indigenous communities, the province’s environment watchdog said Tuesday.
In a report delivered to Queen’s Park, Ontario environmental commissioner Dianne Saxe recognized progress in recent years, but condemned years of inaction by the provincial government in the Aamjiwnaang First Nation in Sarnia’s Chemical Valley, and in mercury-contaminated Grassy Narrows in northwestern Ontario. Both have been subjects of Star investigations.
“The conditions faced by these Indigenous communities would not be tolerated elsewhere in Ontario, yet have long been deemed unworthy of priority, effort or expense,’ said Saxe. “After decades of neglect, the province is finally taking some steps, but the pollution that these communities still face is outrageous.”
http://www.metronews.ca/news/canada/2017/10/24/ontario-pollution-indigenous-communities-watchdog.html