Ontario's environmental watchdog has taken the Wynne government to task for its handling of mercury contamination affecting First Nations communities in northwestern Ontario.
In a new report issued Tuesday, Environmental Commissioner of Ontario Dianne Saxe said the province "has long turned a blind eye" to pollution affecting Indigenous communities.
She singled out mercury poisoning from a Dryden paper mill decades ago that's still causing harm to residents of Grassy Narrows and Wabaseemoong First Nations, as well as industrial pollution affecting a First Nation near Sarnia.
Saxe said "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."
While acknowledging that the province has recently taken steps toward remediation, she called the pollution that still faces some communities outrageous.
Saxe called on the Wynne government to make environmental justice part of its reconciliation with Indigenous peoples.
In its response, the government said it has dedicated over $5 million since 2016 on pre-remediation science in the English-Wabigoon river system including sampling and analysis of sediment, fish and water that was undertaken this past summer.
In June of this year, it committed $85 million for remediation and long-term monitoring, and the Ministry of the Environment has dedicated a fulltime executive lead to work on the project.
The government added that it is committed to ensuring the Dryden mill site is appropriately assessed "to inform decisions on remediation." It noted that the property needs further study including groundwater monitoring and geophysical analysis of the shoreline area to determine whether the mill site is an ongoing source of mercury contamination.
Finally, the government said all studies related to mercury at the site and in the river system will be shared with First Nations communities and the public.
