Amid 2nd evacuation this summer, Neskantaga First Nation calls on Ontario, feds to act

Leaders in Neskantaga First Nation are seeking provincial and federal support for a new health-care facility, as the community’s most vulnerable navigate their second evacuation this summer.

The remote Ojibway community, about 440 kilometres northeast of Thunder Bay, Ont., declared a state of emergency on Aug. 4 after a sewage leak at the First Nation’s only nursing station. Fewer than 400 people live in the First Nation.

The incident happened five days after more than 140 community members returned home from Toronto, following an evacuation triggered by nearby wildfires.

Last year, the community was evacuated for three months over a flood and smell of fuel at its nursing station. Chief Gary Quisses said the First Nation requested support for a new health-care facility at that time but has not received a concrete answer.

Neskantaga has also been under a boil water advisory for 31 years, the longest in effect in Canada.

“Right now, it’s just the stress and overwhelming [feeling] just building up,” Quisses told CBC News in an interview on Thursday.

More than 250 evacuees have been sent to Toronto. Quisses estimates the nursing station’s entire foundation will need to be replaced, “as raw sewage that has seeped into the ground needs to be manually removed,” according to a statement from Aug. 6.

Quisses and other Neskantaga leaders, alongside Kiiwetinoong NDP MPP Sol Mamakwa, spoke about the issue during a news conference at Queen’s Park on Thursday morning. 

“We know that the standards of health care are already so low in most First Nations in Kiwetinoong and also in the far north,” Mamakwa said. “The few services that do exist such as [the nursing station in] Neskantaga are especially vital, and it’s vulnerable.

“While Ontario and Canada are stepping on First Nations’ treaty and inherent rights in an effort to access the resources in traditional territories such as the Ring of Fire, they continue to neglect the needs of the people who actually live on these lands,” he continued.

No timeline for restoration

Neskantaga First Nation’s nursing station was built in 1994. While a temporary nursing station was set up after the Aug. 4 leak, it can only provide basic medical services, Quisses explained.

“Our health care is not adequate right now,” he said.

CBC News reached out to Indigenous Services Canada and received an emailed response on Tuesday.

“ISC staff arrived in community on Aug. 4, 2026, to work with the First Nation’s contractor to assess the situation at the health facility and discuss next steps,” spokesperson Eric Head wrote.

“The contractor’s assessment will be shared with First Nations leadership, and decisions on restoring the facility will be led by the First Nation in discussion with ISC and partners.”

It is difficult to understand how their members are coping, especially the children.– Nishnawbe Aski Nation Grand Chief Alvin Fiddler

There is no timeline for the nursing station’s restoration, Head said, “as testing at the facility is ongoing and discussions with Neskantaga leadership continue.”

According to ISC, “Ornge services are also available should any medivacs be required.”

As well, Head says Neskantaga can apply for funding through the Emergency Management Assistance Program “in responding to and recovering from this emergency.”

Leaders with Nishnawbe Aski Nation (NAN), a political-territorial organization that represents 49 First Nations across treaties 9 and 5, visited Neskantaga on Aug. 10 to assess the situation.

“It has been a very difficult summer, and chief and council are under tremendous pressure to provide answers to their members about when they can go home,” NAN quoted Grand Chief Fiddler saying on Facebook. “It is difficult to understand how their members are coping, especially the children.”

Officials with Ontario’s Ministry of Emergency Preparedness and Response provided an emailed statement to CBC News on Tuesday, saying Neskantaga evacuees “continue to receive wraparound supports, including accommodations, food, and health services at their host site(s).”

‘We can’t keep putting Band-Aids on’

Kerry Black is an associate professor and Canada Research Chair at the University of Calgary’s Schulich School of Engineering. Much of her research has focused on water and wastewater issues in First Nations.

She says the problems at Neskantaga’s nursing station are compounded by the fact that the community hasn’t had clean drinking water in decades.

“It’s frustrating to see that this persists over and over and over again, whether it’s contractor errors or difficulties accessing funding, sustainable funding, we can’t keep putting Band-Aids on,” Black said.

Solving Neskantaga’s water and wastewater crisis shouldn’t be this complicated, she said.

She called for long-term, sustainable funding flowing directly to First Nations, so that community members are equipped to maintain their own infrastructure and come up with their own solutions.

We’re living in the third world with our health care.– Neskantaga First Nation’s Chief Gary Quisses

“We need to be listening to people on the ground. That includes the First Nation members, that includes the tribal councils — they know exactly what’s going on and they have been saying it repeatedly,” said Black.

Charla Moonias is a child and family services prevention worker for Neskantaga. The 29-year-old doesn’t live in the First Nation because of its ongoing infrastructure challenges.

“We’re still under a boil water advisory, we still have inadequate health care, we’re still struggling and nothing has changed. Our young people cannot trust the water, the housing or the health-care system,” Moonias said during Thursday’s news conference.

It’s important to recognize the effects on people’s mental health, especially youth, she said.

“I thought things would be better than it was when I was a child but it’s the same.”

Meanwhile, Quisses said staying in the city has taken a toll on his community members.

“A hotel’s not a long-term facility for people to live in. It’s all confined space, there’s no life in there,” he said. “Large families are [compacted] in one room.”

Though testing and repairs at the nursing station will take time, Quisses said he hopes the situation shines a light on the conditions his community is facing — especially amid a push for development in the north.

“We’re living in the Third World with our health care,” he said. “I don’t even have 911 in my community. I don’t have [any] fire protection. I don’t have [any] proper health transportation.

“All the infrastructure that we have [is] not adequate.”