Ontario Ombudsman Paul Dubé is demanding the provincial and federal governments take, “immediate action to address the unacceptable and unsafe conditions in Neskantaga First Nation,” following his first-ever visit to a fly-in First Nation this week.
Dozens of students waving placards greeted Dubé at the Neskantaga airport when he arrived on Tuesday. Signs read, “we need clean water,” and “we need a new water plant,” referring to the infamous, 30-year-old boil-water advisory in this community of 300 people, located 450 kilometers northeast of Thunder Bay. Other signs included slogans like, “we need a new school,” “we need a nursing station,” “we need a fire truck,” and the daunting, “our future is in your hands.”
Dubé’s 24-hour tour of Neskantaga included visits to a condemned health centre and its makeshift replacement outpost, the water plant that has never worked, a dysfunctional hockey arena, a school that’s showing its age in every corner, and the graveyard. A local suicide crisis shows the physical and human impacts of Canada’s longest boil-water advisory, revealing Neskantaga’s polycrisis, which leaves professionals in every sector in a cycle of scrambling triage.
“They [the crises] feed into each other and they multiply the impact of each other,” Dubé observed in an interview with Ricochet. “We’ve heard a lot of heartbreaking stories and we’re leaving with a sense of pain and of sorrow, but also a kind of energy of wanting to contribute what we can from our jurisdiction to find solutions.
“They [the crises] feed into each other and they multiply the impact of each other.”
“It all starts with raising awareness and shining a light on what’s actually transpiring here, because I think most reasonable Canadians would be shocked and appalled by the hardships that this community has to deal with, day in and day out.”
Dubé’s visit followed a call Neskantaga made in March for leaders to visit and see their daily life, first hand. The Ombudsman’s 2024-2025 annual report announced the office’s intention to “contribute meaningfully to Ontario’s reconciliation journey,” detailing staff training, trauma-informed policies, and translating its decisions into Indigenous languages.
Dubé made his first visit to a First Nation last year at Asubpeeschoseewagong Netum Anishinabek (Grassy Narrows First Nation) to discuss policy changes to child welfare. Over three days in November, he said leaders showed him apartment units with seven or eight residents while a completed housing development had stalled because it hadn’t been connected to the electricity grid. Within 10 days, Dube had the lines connected.
“We never know what we’re going to be capable of if we’re not there and people don’t know about us, but this is the starting point of raising awareness,” he said.
On Tuesday and Wednesday, Neskantaga members broke down emotionally on multiple occasions, begging Dubé to help fix the problems that have led to lost lives.
Speaking to a community gathering towards the end of his visit, he said his office can’t promise to provide the facilities and programs people need. But it can identify policies with unfair impacts, and interrogate whether they’re based on evidence and best practices — ultimately making recommendations for solutions.
“It starts with raising awareness,” he said. “It starts with making the people of Ontario aware of the conditions you’re living in. It starts by communicating with some of the provincial departments: ‘Here’s what we see, what are you going to do?’ And that might involve doing an investigation or two into certain of the services that are lacking in your First Nation, and making recommendations that make things better and improve your community.”
He didn’t speak to specific possible investigations, referencing the number of broken promises governments have made that litter Neskantaga’s past.
When the federal government ordered this community moved upriver from the Hudson’s Bay Company’s Lansdowne House outpost in 1985, Canada promised a prosperous future. Three decades later, that infrastructure is decaying. In the case of the water plant, it has never provided potable water, which gives this place the dubious title of the longest-standing boil-water advisory in Canadian history.
Neskantaga Chief Gary Quisess tells Ricochet he expects the Ombudsman’s office to follow up on pressuring provincial ministries as a matter of human rights.
“I want to have a continued relationship to help us and support the needs of our community — to speak, to advocate for us — because the government denies (the problem) all the time. They make commitments but no action. It would be good with somebody else pushing from their level.”
Nishnawbe Aski Nation Deputy Grand Chief Anna Betty Achneepineskum, whose organization represents the chiefs of 49 mostly fly-in First Nations in Ontario’s far north said Dubé’s decision to come to Neskantaga was the right choice, in terms of the disparity of the services and infrastructure in this community. She added NAN will be holding the Ombudsman’s office to the fledgling relationship it’s developing with First Nations in northern Ontario.
“We need to ensure there’s some action from them,” she said. “It’s certainly a good starting point and we’ll see where we go from here. We’re certainly going to be advocating for some movement.”
A statement from Indigenous Services Canada says Minister Gull-Masty has committed to meeting with Neskantaga’s chief and council in the next couple of weeks. ISC says it has invested $155-million in Neskantaga’s infrastructure over the past five years.“We understand that addressing these long-standing infrastructure challenges requires not only funding but also a collaborative, community-led approach,” the ISC statement reads. “That is why we are committed to supporting solutions that reflect the needs, priorities, and self-determined goals of Neskantaga First Nation.
“Progress has been made, but we recognize that more work remains.”
