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Attawapiskat Evacuation

December 9, 2011 by · Comments Off on Attawapiskat Evacuation 

Attawapiskat Evacuation, The federal government is offering to relocate families living in tents and shacks in the northern Ontario community of Attawapiskat until adequate housing can be provided for them.

A third-party manager appointed by Ottawa is prepared to purchase 15 modular homes to help deal with the community’s housing crisis, Aboriginal Affairs Minister John Duncan said Wednesday in a letter to Attawapiskat Chief Theresa Spence. However, the homes would not be delivered until a winter road to the community opens in about two months.

Until then, Duncan said that a local sportsplex or healing lodge could be modified to accommodate families who are living in substandard housing. Evacuation is another option, he said.

Spence hasn’t responded publicly to Duncan’s offer.

Earlier in the day, interim NDP Leader Nycole Turmel said Ottawa should send in the military to help deal with the situation.

The lack of warm and hygienic housing is dire given the arrival of winter and people in Attawapiskat have asked her to seek the army’s help, Turmel wrote in a letter to Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

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