From north of the border CBC News reports single room factory-built trailers once used by the De Beers diamond company for housing mine workers and donated to Attawapiskat First Nation in 2009 for temporary shelter have become permanent housing for some. Others have fallen into such disrepair as to be unlivable but with De Beers’ help are currently being rehabbed. As MHProNewsreported here Dec. 8, 2011, a 2009 sewage backup in the northern Ontario Cree community of Attawapiskat forced residents from their homes. When the Canadian government refused to pay for evacuating residents, the tribe went into debt to cover the cost. Chief Theresa Spence declared a state of emergency last winter for this community of 2,000, which resulted in the government shipping 22 modular homes to the tribe. Chief Spence recently went on a hunger strike to continue publicizing the housing shortage. Meanwhile, the federal government is accusing her of financial mismanagement.
