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A First Nation in Manitoba has proposed a $5 billion dollar class action lawsuit against the Canadian government.
As Dan Karpenchuk reports, the lawsuit claims the government has failed to address the housing crisis on Canada’s reserves.
The St. Theresa Point First Nation in northern Manitoba wants the compensation and an order that Ottawa comply with its obligation to provide adequate housing in First Nations communities.
The northern community of just over 5,000 is accessible by plane or by ice road for six weeks each year.
Chief Elvin Flett says what’s happening in his reserve is about broken promises and treaties and the promises made to his people.
“Most homes on reserves are falling apart. And many are infested with mold and other toxins. Our lack of housing on reserve forces generation after generation to cram together under the same roof.”
Flett says in his community there are more than 460 families that need homes.
He says of the nearly 650 houses about 25% should be condemned because of severe decay and rotting, others need major repairs.
He says it’s no uncommon for families of 12 to live in one home.
In one house, there are 32 people living in four bedrooms, they sleep in shifts.
Flett adds that the deplorable housing has mental and physical repercussions with many living with ailments linked to toxins in the homes.
Many children and teens don’t have access to personal space.
The proposed class action is aimed at the most extreme housing emergencies in First Nations.
Flett is inviting other bands to join the lawsuit against the Canadian government.
The claim alleges that Canada has deliberately underfunded housing on reserves while at the same time imposed restrictions on their ability to provide housing for themselves.
The class action has not yet been certified by a judge.
Dozens of people recently marched on northwest Montana’s Flathead Reservation for Mika Josephine Westwolf, who was hit and killed by a vehicle along U.S. Highway 93 earlier this year.
Montana Public Radio’s Aaron Bolton reports the walk was part of a weeklong effort to bring awareness to the case and others like it.
Over three days of events, people from across the Flathead Reservation walked near U.S 93 wearing red shirts, the official color representing the disproportionate number of Indigenous people that go missing or are murdered.
Westwolf’s mother Carissa Heavy Runner says the Montana Highway Patrol, which is investigating her daughter’s death, hasn’t explained why they haven’t charged the suspect in the case.
“Nothing much has changed sadly. I’m hoping with this walk and the recent articles, that’s going to change because it’s now over two months.”
The Montana Highway Patrol did not immediately respond to Montana Public Radio’s request for details about their investigation into the incident.
Heavy Runner says her daughter’s case follows a familiar trend of law enforcement agencies struggling to solve missing persons or murder cases on reservations.
She blames jurisdictional issue confusion over which agency is responsible for investigating crimes.
Advocates have long said that confusion leads to cases falling through the cracks.
Heavy Runner told a crowd gathered in Pablo that has to change as she worries about the younger generation continuing to struggle with this issue.
“I don’t want them to have fear of growing up, having to look over their shoulder or have to go through their classmates, older cousins go missing or murdered.”
Heavy Runner, who lives on the Blackfeet Reservation, called on Confederated Salish and Kootenai tribal leaders and the Blackfeet tribal council to push for change at the federal level.
She wants funding for special investigative teams dedicated to solving cases on reservations across the country.
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