Attawapiskat seven months later: chiefs still grapple with poverty and politics

OTTAWA – As the First Nations chiefs meet in Toronto this week to vote on their next national leader, the cloud that covered their last assembly seems to have dissipated.

The housing crisis in Attawapiskat, Ontario, dominated every motion and speech when the chiefs met together last December in Ottawa.

Now, the Attawapiskat families that used to be living in tents are housed in new mobile homes, and the band has regained control over its finances.

But Grand Chief Stan Louttit from the regional council says housing is still a big problem on the reserve, since 90 people are living in what was originally supposed to be temporary accommodation but is now an overcrowded and noisy complex unfit for children.

He says he and many other chiefs are tired of waiting for Ottawa to fix their problems, and would rather use revenue from the development of natural resources to take control of their own affairs.

That idea will be front and centre at the chiefs’ meeting in Toronto this week.