Grassy Narrows chief skeptical as Ontario party leaders pledge mercury clean-up
GRASSY NARROWS, Ont. — The leaders of all three of Ontario’s major political parties pledged Friday to clean up a mercury-contaminated river that has plagued the Grassy Narrows First Nation for decades, as NDP Leader Andrea Horwath toured the community.
However, the New Democrat leader who flew to the First Nation in northwestern Ontario failed to win a full-throated endorsement from the community’s recently elected chief, Rudy Turtle.
“As leadership, we’re definitely concerned about who gets in (to office),” Turtle said. “Definitely, we’re hoping that either the Liberals or NDP — one of them — gets in.”
Residents of the 800-strong reserve in an otherwise idyllic part of the province have suffered from mercury poisoning since a paper mill in Dryden, Ont., dumped 9,000 kilograms of the toxic heavy metal into the English-Wabigoon River system in the 1960s. A report authored by five experts and released last year suggested mercury could still be leaking into the river system.