Since the band council in the northern Ontario Aboriginal community of Attawapiskat declared a health emergency on Oct. 28, nothing much has changed.

The long and often shameful history of deteriorating Aboriginal communities in the North and federal government inaction endures.

Many people in the community of about 2,000 citizens were living in tents, broken-down crowded shacks without proper sanitation, and with winter closing in fast the first reaction of the Prime Minister was to declare it a financial crisis instead of a housing one.

He demanded to know what had happened to the $90 million the federal government had sent to the community over the last six years.

The first help Ottawa sent was a government official carrying a box of Tim Hortons Tim Bits with a responsibility to take over the settlement's finances from their local Aboriginal leaders

They heaved him out, leading to a still unresolved confrontation in the community over who is in charge of their spending – if anyone is.

Finally, the government has announced that help will be coming soon, but Minister John Duncan was unable to answer questions about exactly when or whether the temporary housing was conditional on the band accepting a third-party manager from Ottawa.

On at least two occasions, the hapless minister of Aboriginal Affairs had to be dragged away by a press assistant when he seemed unable to field tough questions from reporters.

That humiliating spectacle and his apparent inability to deal with his file has shaken the confidence of many in the community and outside.

Although there have been many similar incidents over the years involving housing and health issues on reserves, this time seems different in terms of the public response.

Perhaps it was the shock effect of the international Red Cross putting out an appeal for funds so it could fly in tents, blankets and sleeping bags into the community.

This week on Question Period, we will ask why the federal government has failed to cope with the dreadful circumstances and poverty of so many Aboriginal communities.

We will also ask whether Aboriginal Peoples themselves have developed a dependency on support from government which has held them back.