First modular home arrives in Attawapiskat

The first of 22 modular homes has finally arrived in Attawapiskat, the First Nations community that's been dealing with a housing crisis and more. As Daniele Hamamdjian explains, it doesn't mean the problem has been solved.

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Government of Canada funded modular homes for Attawapiskat First Nation are shown en route to Moosonee, ON. (MARKETWIRE PHOTO/Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada)

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Charley Angus has been the MP for this area for over seven years now and until last summer probably couldn't even pronounce Attawapiskat. He certainly hasn't done anything constructive during this time. It's time he stopped playing politics and shut his mouth until he has something beneficial to say.

End of the Road

Minister worries Attawapiskat unprepared for new homes

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First modular home arrives in Attawapiskat

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CTVNews.ca Staff

Date: Sat. Feb. 11 2012 10:15 PM ET

The first of 22 modular housing units promised for the isolated northern Ontario native community of Attawapiskat arrived Saturday evening.

A winter road to the embattled First Nation is finally usable after weeks of above-normal temperatures. However, traffic was so heavy that only one home could make the journey on Saturday, CTV's Daniele Hamamdjian reported.

Hamamdjian said it normally takes 11 hours for a truck carrying one unit to make the journey along the ice road. Together, a single housing unit and the truck carrying it weigh 50,000 pounds, making for a slow trip.

Weather conditions remained ideal on Saturday, Hamamdjian said.

The bit of good news followed word on Friday that the housing units may not be ready to live in until mid-March, sources told CTV News.

Minister of Aboriginal Affairs John Duncan said he's concerned sites for all 22 of the promised units won't be ready before warm weather closes the road to the community near James Bay.

"We will continue to work with the community on an urgent basis to address the immediate needs of the (affected) families before the window of opportunity with this year's winter road is closed," he said in a statement released Saturday.

The plan now is to get all the units to Attawapiskat while the road is open and then worry about when people can move in, something that might not happen until the winter is almost over, Hamamdjian reported Friday.

Attawapiskat declared a housing crisis in October and the federal government stepped in to appoint a third-party manager to run its finances.

The move was opposed by the First Nation and it sought an injunction to remove the manager, but it was turned down by a federal court judge.

Duncan said the money is available to get the site work done and the third-party manager has been authorized to pay the bills.

But New Democrat MP Charlie Angus, who represents the area, blamed the lack of progress on the manager, saying funds to do the work aren't available.

That debate raged in the House of Commons this week with the government reiterating the money is there to finish the work.

Editors note: in the attached video, project manager Glenn Watson was incorrectly identified as Glenn 'Atson'.

Comments are now closed for this story

GP
said

I live just outside Ottawa in a 35 year old mobile home; I sure would love to have one of these new modular homes given to me. Why do these people expect Ottawa to keep giving? Lots of money is given to the area yearly. Why are they not upset with their chief and demanding to know where the money is. The chief and the council should be held accountable. If the mayor of Ottawa and the city council were operating the way they do in Attawapiskat there would be an investigation and you can be sure some of them would end up in jail. Blaming the federal government for your problems is not the solution; they sent the money. Make your chief and council accountable!

nm
said

Just had a look at the video of the state of the houses. The leaky roofs and so on. I am not a carpenter by no means but why is it that repairs are not made to the leaky roofs before the houses are ruined with mold?If my house had a leaky roof I surely would be up there trying to fix it.

Jess
said

URU - i suggest you learn about modular homes, or RTM homes. As I have done the research as my husband and i purchased a modular home, they are built as well as most stick built homes now-a-days and cost just as much when all said and done. They may not be the top of the line modular homes, but there still good quality homes, and no theses modular homes are not the same as our "trailer" homes.

Nick Fillmore
said

What is Stephen Harper thinking that he does not get with it and begin to clean up these terrible reserves for native people? But Harper of course has ideas of his own, and his policies are neoliberal.

J.C.
said

I agree 100% with Seeking Wolf!!

roger1
said

A novel idea. Instead of going on 2 week cruises why don't the band members select 9 residents and send 3 for plumbing basic training, 3 for electricity training, and 3 for carpentry training. That way they could start to help themselves and the candidates could pass on their knowledge when they return from their training and keep their reserve in a livable condition.

dizz
said

The media has given Angus a free ride on this whole issue from the outset.There is no doubt that he has teamed with Spence to his advantage.The media should be looking at Angus as the fraud that he is.....he has no more interest in Attawapiskat than flying to the moon,

sickofit
said

Everyone Canadian who is homeless or lives in deplorable conditions deserves to get a free house. iDEA, Lets just dissolve the Govt, split the money, blow it the way we want and then we can all be broke equally. No more handouts for ANYONE.

Gerald
said

@Seeking Wolf...Thanks for clearing that up for me, never looked at it that way....Cool name by the way !

chel in the Peg
said

@ URU Doesn't matter what your home is built from - it still has to be maintained. There's no reason why these homes can't last for decades with proper maintenance.

PBW
said

URU says "They should be build properly from the start with BRICK" I don't know where URU lives, but brick is not a good choice for the northern parts of our nation; it is just too heavy. More to the point, what percentage of new builds in the entire nation are of brick construction? Better to have lightweight but sturdy homes than ones that will sink into the muskeg. No doubt the footings for these incoming houses would be complete if there was no-one obstructing the person placed in charge of the band's finances. And who was obstructing him? The very persons likely to complain that preparations are not complete.

Jack R
said

I'm curious. Why doesn't the government concentrate the housing into apartment units instead of single family dwellings. Is there some unwritten rule that says they must all be housed in stand alone homes and not apartment buildings? Seems to me this would be a better use of resources.

Mark
said

Charlie is a big part of the problem. We should never pay until the work is complete and inspected. Chief Spence waited till the problem blew up in her face, the housing issue is nothing new. When will the government order a forensic audit on the bands books. I bet the people up there would be shocked at what was found.

Randy
said

The natives in Attawapiskat should be like their southern counterparts when they don't get what they want, such as a third party manager....they should set up a road block...they may not get their houses this way but hey... at least they will have let the government know their mad about something....something that will require alot of money to resolve before the road blocks come down.

Joel - Edm
said

Hey Steve, where's my new house? It's expensive living in Alberta.

Alexandria
said

I still want to see a picture of the house the Chief lives in. I would like to see the inside and the outside of her house.Where has MR. Big Mouth NDP been for the last 4 or5 years? This is his riding and his responsibility. He sure did a hell of a job of missing this community. He is a joke and should be brought to task by his Party.

Seeking Wolf
said

How many times does it need to be spelled out? We are NOT first nations. We are Canadians of aboriginal descent. If you consult the archeological record, we could be called 6th or 7th nations but NOT first. The term first nation's was coined by a white political studies professor at the university of toronto in the 1980s to advance one of his idiotic political ideas and the media ran with it. Enough is enough is enough. ONE CANADA, ONE LAW FOR US ALL, EQUAL OBLIGATIONS AND RESPONSIBILITIES FOR ALL.

Lynne
said

Readers need to keep in mind that these people have contributed to our country: they contributed all their land. They have been restricted to a small portion of their original territories, and area selected for them as being of no value to mainstream society at the time. Historically, they would have had 2 or 3 village areas, and moved according to the seasons, dwelling in places that were best suited for the weather and for hunting and gathering food and supplies. This tradition has been denied.Also note: that while mainstream communities are serviced by local city and municipal governments, regional districts, province and feds, for native communities all services come only from INAC. If you compared the costs of all services: roads, schools, hospitals, police, fire, medicals, pensions, etc provided each individual in mainstream Canada, with the dollars spent on each reservation occupant. the discrepancies that writers here are complaining about would vanish, or reverse.

dan
said

Charlie Angus should go back to Attawapiskat in a year from now and what is left of those new houses.Angus should wake up . He is being used by the indian chief.

Doug ^^^ BC
said

These homes are "free" to "your" people URU.I think it takes a lot of nerve to now complain that they are not good enough. My question from BC,is what resources are there on this reserve? Are they living on land that can support the entire band,or is it in the middle of no where,with no resources to grow a local economy? We have just as many First Nations issues in BC as there are in Ontario.But the bands here that are taking active parts in the economy are the ones doing the best. I'm not First Nations,but I don't like to see them living in squalor and poverty.either.Solutions for all are elusive.But it seems to me that the ones we can help first,are the ones who are willing and able to take part in the national economy. In BC,some bands are logging.Some are involved in BC's LNG economy.Some have mines on their land.Some others are buiilding a shopping mall.Another band is leasing some of it's land for a prison. What options are available to the people living in Attawapiskat? How has thes band supported it's people in the past? Just asking.I honestly don't know.

peter in mb
said

�New Democrat Charlie Angus, who represents the area, blames the lack of progress on the third-party manager�. Yes Charlie Angus is right. How could the third-party manager do their job when the Chief and band counsel kick him of the reservation? And Charlie Angus himself spent more time arguing and pointing the finger at the government then representing the people in his riding! Attawapiskat is in your riding Charlie Angus!!! Charlie Angus You failed to represent them in the House of Commons for 7 years.The blame is on your head!!! Charlie Angus you should resign.

baeto
said

Where has Angus been during the construction of these new homes? Why has he not been on site to ensure that the band gets the onsite work done? Everyone knows the chief will do anything to make the government look bad and prevent her crews from doing the on site work. Angus continues to play politics with this issue rather than helping get it resolved.

davkarshobby
said

Anything the media prints about Attawapiskat will lack credibility until photographs of the chief and band council's are provided. I have seen many requests for this but all we get is that shed with the tattered Canadian flag. If we logically assume this is the worst example they could find (otherwise why show it?) then there must be other houses that are in better shape. Show us!With all the NDP and Liberal visitors flooding into Attawapiskat, it is hard to believe none of them are taking a camera with them - not even the one on their cell phones? And the chief does not want the 3rd party manager to visit - what does she have to hide?

Keith Fisher
said

Did this whole "crisis" just suddenly pop up last October? Of course not. It's been fermenting for years and in October, the NDP member who has done nothing for his constituents for years, suddenly assembles the media for a carefully timed and orchestrated attempt at making the current federal gov't look bad. Now this hasty and therefore poorly planned rescue attempt is developing an odour of its own. Nice play, Charlie, but it appears that your charade has back-fired. The odour is coming from you. Pro-active planning would have been a much better choice than the usual NDP knee-jerk reaction.

Gord
said

John is right on the mark. You could probably have all the homes moved to the reserve in a couple of weeks. Once there they can be put in place as each site is made ready. If getting them there inside 2 weeks is too quick for government officials, then they should step aside and let a private contractor do the job.

Ken in NB
said

Kudos to Sekking Wolf for breaking out of the reserve trap and calling is like it is.

Good to hear that hard work and good decisions are getting you ahead, keep up the good work.

justin Smith
said

I don't believe a word that Charlie Angus utters. He and his filthy-mouthed buddy Pat Martin are totally negative and untrustworthy. They simply don't want to deal with the third party manager, and they figure that Canadians are ready to swallow the line that Ottawa is cruel and irresponsible.

A canadian
said

I agree with Sekking Wolf, we need to disband all the reserves.
Make them Counties, help them set the county up, they can get their people trained in heavy equiment to maintain the infrastructure, the vehicles etc. get training in designing towns and administering them.
collect taxes, apply for government grants to help them.
The people would finally have some pride in supplying their familys with a living.
I have if you want many native friends, they are not on the reserve and want nothing to do with the corruption on the reserve.
Get rid of the reserves.

URU
said

Great more junk homes for our people. They should be build properly from the start with BRICK and well insulated perhaps its saves money in the long run. Obviously, those in Parliment who made the decision to build JUNK homes haven't learned a lesson from the past. Cut corners now pay later.

simone
said

Tell me all you negative people. How do you prepare a site when the ground is frozen, Have been involved with the building industry and frozen ground has a tendency to slow down the process. Common sense!!!. Oh right that has disappeared!

Cynical
said

And if the new homes are all delivered but not used, it will be the government's fault? If the ice road melts before the last one can be delivered it's the government's fault? If the homes are in place but still unoccupied when the world comes to a crashing end on 21 December it will be the government's fault? I never knew the Conservatives were so awful! That must be why they got the majority last election.

Steevo Anderson
said

Where's my new house? How crazy has this situation gotten where some people actually expect a new home, based on ethnicity. I have seen this play out many times. The new homes are trashed in about a year, or full of mould because they simply don't get cleaned. Proclaim another state of emergency and demand more new homes. How gullible are the rest of us going to stay? For how much longer? How to fix this situation? STOP pouring $$$ in to these places. People will have to get a vocation, take pride in that and their homes, that they WORKED and sweated for.

King Nutmost the Rash
said

One of the First Nations major problems is the fact that their bands are not only cultural entities, but also political ones. When all band assets are controlled by the chief and his/her buddies, it is an open invitation to corruption and outright fraud. So we give them all new houses. But the people who live in them do not own them and thus have no stake in their upkeep. After all they have learned that there is always more where that came from. And who can blame them for always expecting a free lunch? They have played the victim card so often it has become dog-eared and frayed, as is my patience. Give the individual band members ownership and responsibility and see if anything changes. They have been treated as children for far too long.

Sheila
said

I find John Duncan's comments disgraceful. Aboriginal Affairs needs to get this job done, without comment and without blame - it doesn't help. Interesting to note that he also announced (for the 4th time from their Ministry) that they would finally build a school, 5 days before a group of teenagers arrived at the UN in Geneva to ask them to hold Canada accountable. Disgraceful behaviour from our leaders.

SYLK
said

I entirely agree with N.S Close all reservations, they have more right than many, to be here. And deserve to have the rights and freedoms of all Canadians

12 billion dollar budget for Natives; why?
said

Native Canadians have a 12 billion dollar budget, three times the budget we have for our Veterans. To put this in perspective, all you have to be is born as a native, to have more benefits than another Canadian that fights for the Freedoms that Canada has decided is a part of our heritage. But these wounded men get less coverage than a healthy native, just because they are native. Injured war veteran pensions have been slashed by 50% since 2005, when the Federal Government must have decided it would be to expensive to support the new veterans coming back from a war it was sending them to. We have to fix our broken system, the Conservatives have to fix it!

End of the Road
said

keitho
said

The Attawapiskat leaders have proven themselves to be incompetent. Under the supervision of a Government Manager, good things are starting to happen. M.P. Charlie Angus has done nothing for the people. Now, he is going to snipe away at those who are doing something. I would suggest that Mr. Angus is part of the problem, not part of the solution.

Munro - Brampton
said

Like the guy in the Toronto Sun said, if there is not enough jobs (fishing or whatever) to support themselves then they have to relocate some where near civilization ! We can't support them to live in the middle of nothingness. And they can not even manage their town on their own. Letting the mold in the school get so bad before getting help shows how incompetent they are. They have a huge chip on their shoulder and expect everything to be handed to them.

Jer
said

Speaking as an aboriginal person.. This bugs me... And I don't live on a reserve.

Some of these reserves have chiefs that make 2 or 3 times that salary of the Prime Minister, who do NOTHING for the communities they serve, but they are the FIRST to complain. And when help is given, it's always NEVER ENOUGH or they don't want it.

So tired of this. The government needs to put their foot down.

Enough is enough
said

I would still like to see pictures of the homes that the chief and council live in!!! Why has no one taken pictures?

CM
said

I am guessing this will some how be the Government's fault.... Is there going to be anybody inspecting these new homes months from now?

J.C.
said

There likely would not be a problem at all if the band's council would stop fighting the third party manager. I think it is their plan to try to discredit him so they can get control of their finances more quickly. For example in the story this am they did not submit invoices for payment. I also think the NDP Angus for this region is also using this band's troubles for partisan purposes. Maybe they all need to cooperate a little better and consider the band residents rather than themselves. A lot more could get accomplished much faster.

James
said

this whole case is proof positive that the government should never in any case give away money for free with no strings attached. there should ALWAYS be oversight to keep an eye out for Nepotism and Fiscal Mismanagement that was clearly rampant in this specific case. A for the gov possition to rectify this situation.

John
said

The sites don't have to be ready for the homes to be delivered! Just contract the trucks and move them up there while the road is open and to the preparation after. Quit with the BS

rick
said

Does the NDP member ever do anything but blame and insight fear, and doom and gloom for politcal gain. In fact does he do anything. It must take a special person to turn everything into what he hopes is political gain because I haven't seen a thing he has added that is positive.

Toby
said

Too bad the NDP are so out of touch. The money was sent months ago. The chief doesn't appear to have organized the work. Guess she can always blame the Gov't.

NS
said

Baby sitting whiners. Close all reserves, it is more racist to keep this dependency called reserve living alive. Give them the same freedoms as every other Canadian.

Sekking Wolf
said

Charlie Angus is a manipulative ass, and the band chief needs to be properly investigated. If our government has provided so much funding WHERE did it go. Time to repeal the Indian Act, disband INAC and let ALL Canadians be equal, with equal responsibilities and obligations. Ennough is enough is enough. I left the res in 1940 and never went back. My family prospered through hard work, that opportunity is there for anyone with the guts to take it, regardless of your ethnic heritage.

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