‘We shouldn't have to beg,’ says chief of First Nation facing decades of mercury poisoning in Ontario

‘We shouldn't have to beg,’ says chief of First Nation facing decades of mercury poisoning in Ontario

Grassy Narrows chief among 9,000 in rally at Queen's Park in Toronto to demand justice

Chrissy Isaacs says she physically struggles to open a water bottle some days, one of her many symptoms due to mercury poisoning.

The grandmother from Grassy Narrows First Nation (traditionally known as Asubpeeschoseewagong Netum Anishinabek) was among about 9,000 people who marched to Queen’s Park in Toronto on Wednesday, part of her community's River Run Rally to demand justice from the provincial and federal governments.

Mercury contamination in Grassy Narrows dates back to the 1960s and '70s, when the Dryden Paper Mill in northwestern Ontario dumped about nine tonnes of the toxin into the English-Wabigoon River System.

Since then, members of Grassy Narrows and Wabaseemoong Independent Nations have lived with health effects such as tremors, insomnia, memory loss, neuromuscular effects, headaches, and cognitive and motor dysfunction.

About 90 per cent of Grassy Narrows’s population has been affected.

Mercury in the community is mainly transmitted by consuming river fish, but it can also be passed on during pregnancy.

“Our people were river people, and our main food source was from the river and our livelihood was from the river,” Isaacs told CBC News ahead of Wednesday’s rally. “That was robbed from me from birth. I never got that chance to actually be able to really live that part of my life.”

The First Nations are calling for the river system to be cleaned up, for all affected community members to receive compensation and for the Dryden Paper Mill to be shut down.

“We're losing our people so quickly, both communities,” said Grassy Narrows First Nation Chief Sherry Ackabee. “We shouldn't have to beg for this.”

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Dryden Fibre Canada, owner of the paper mill, said the company “takes its responsibilities to the natural environment and greater community seriously.”

“We operate in a highly regulated sector with strict health and environmental standards; the Dryden Mill is compliant with all provincial and federal regulatory requirements and permits,” said an emailed statement sent to CBC News on Tuesday,

Ministry involved in river remediation process

The Ontario government under the then Liberal premier, Kathleen Wynne, announced $85 million in 2017 to support the river system's remediation.

Gary Wheeler, a spokesperson for the province’s Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks, provided an emailed statement on Monday about the status of the cleanup.

“Mercury contamination in the English and Wabigoon Rivers is a complex issue that requires detailed scientific work to determine options for remediation,” Wheeler wrote.

“The ministry is leading the next phase of the remediation process, which includes procuring a remediation firm to develop technically feasible remediation options, high-level costing, timelines and the development of a long-term monitoring plan.”

First Nations step up efforts to have Dryden, Ont., paper mill shut down over mercury contamination

He spent his career documenting collective trauma. Grassy Narrows was one of his toughest cases

A study released in May 2024 by Western University in London, Ont., suggests that the river system's contamination is getting worse due to industrial pollution.

It found that discharge of wastewater from the Dryden Paper Mill, combined with existing mercury, has created high levels of methylmercury — an even more toxic compound.

Paper mill accused of having 'no empathy'

Adrian Keejick, a drummer from Grassy Narrows who participated in Wednesday's march, told CBC Radio-Canada that it was important for him to stand in solidarity with his people.

“Many people have passed [away] and people have a lot of physical effects because of mercury,” Keejick said.

He feels the Dryden Paper Mill “has no empathy, no sympathy — just pure gain and profit, right?”

In a statement Wednesday, Glenn Cameron, a Wabaseemoong Independent Nations band councillor, said “the fact that we are still having this fight is obviously because of racism.”

“If you had any other two communities being poisoned like us in Canada, they would have already had the poison cleaned and the communities would have been compensated for all of the harm.”

CBC News reached out to Indigenous Services Canada for comment and will update the story with any response.

Mercury Care Home may open in November 2027

A Mercury Care Home that will provide in-patient services for 22 people and outpatient services for all affected community members was first promised in 2017 and delayed for several years. But Ackabee said it's expected to be completed by November 2027.

Grassy Narrows First Nation gets mercury poisoning treatment centre

The federal government said it's spending $82 million on the construction of the 6,500-square-foot home and $68.9 million on a community trust to support ongoing operations.

That means elders currently receiving care outside the First Nation can finally return home, said Ackabee.

“I can't wait for that day. We've lost quite a few [people] along the way waiting, and [the poisoning] should have stopped many, many years ago.”

Sarah Law is a CBC News reporter based in Thunder Bay, Ont., and has also worked for newspapers and online publications elsewhere in the province. Have a story tip? You can reach her at sarah.law@cbc.ca.

With files from Lounan Charpentier and Kirthana Sasitharan