grrr.

Next on the list of stuff that pisses me off:

The Kashechewan reserve has been under a boil water advisory for two years because of dilapidated water treatment plant. Two years, and neither the Canadian Federal Government nor the Ontario government have taken action. Until now, that is. Now that 60% of the population is in need of serious medical care. They are going to airlift 1100 people out of the community to nearby hospitals. 1100 people are afflicted with various ailments from using contaminated water – including eczema, scabies and other skin diseases. Canadians reacted with horror as the American government waited a couple of days to respond to the devastation inflicted upon New Orleans by hurricane Katrina, yet we’ve sat back and said nothing when northern communities such as this one, and three-quarters of the other 633 native communities investigated in a 2001 Indian Affairs study, live with a substandard, even dangerous, water supply. The Walkerton commission long ago recommended that all native water systems be monitored by the Federal Government but nothing has been done, and no one has said a word.

Perhaps we should allocate some of our earthquake relief charity money, or some of our hurricane relief fund, to build decent water treatment plants in our own poorer communities.

I’m just sayin.