[IPSM] More news on the genocidal conditions in Kashechewan

[Macdonald Stainsby]

Two prisoners die in jailhouse fire on troubled Ontario reserve
http://news.yahoo.com/s/cpress/20060109/ca_pr_on_na/ont_kashechewan_deaths

KASHECHEWAN FIRST NATION, Ont. (CP) - The troubled conditions on a 
northern Ontario reserve were again thrust into the spotlight Sunday 
afternoon when a fire at the community jail killed two inmates and badly 
injured a police officer who was trying to save them.

Two young men were in their cells when fire broke out in the building, 
Insp. Pierre Guerard of the Nishnawbe-Askia police said from Cochrane, Ont.

Three officers made every attempt to evacuate the facility, but were 
overcome by smoke and flames, he said.

"These deaths have really shaken up the community," area MP Charlie 
Angus said from Ottawa. "It just seems like more tragedy upon tragedy 
has been piled up in these communities. People are very upset there 
right now."

One police officer attempted to free the inmates, but was badly injured 
during a futile attempt to open the doors. He was flown to the burn unit 
of Sunnybrook Hospital in Toronto for treatment.

A second police officer and civilian guard were treated locally for 
smoke inhalation, he said.

The names of the victims have not been released.

It is not clear what caused the fire, or why the officer was unable to 
open the doors, but Angus said the facility was in terrible condition.

The community jail "looks like a flophouse" and didn't have proper jail 
doors or padlocks, he added.

"It just was in terrible, terrible condition, holes in the walls, the 
cells were inadequate. It looked more like something you see in Sarajevo 
than the province of Ontario."

The MP for Timmins James-Bay was instrumental in bringing attention to 
the tainted water that forced community residents from their homes last 
fall.

Kashechewan Chief Leo Friday said the tragedy further highlights the 
community's extensive problems.

"I asked for a fire department building for the last five years and 
didn't get any response from the government."

He added the jail was combined with the post office, which also burned 
to the ground in Sunday's blaze.

Angus said the weekend tragedy is yet another example of how the 
government has failed those living on the reserve on the shores of James 
Bay.

"What we're dealing with here is again the neglect at the federal and 
provincial levels," he said Sunday.

"It's this makeshift and make-do operations, (a) failure of 
infrastructure in that community," he said.

All but 200 of the 1,700 residents of the reserve were evacuated after 
E. coli bacteria was found in their water supply this fall.

The tainted water that drew national attention to the troubled 
conditions on the reserve meant residents lived under a boil-water 
advisory for two years.

When Health Canada announced high levels of E. coli in the community's 
supply of drinking water on Oct. 14, chief Friday immediately called a 
state of emergency and a community evacuation began in the following weeks.

Indian and Northern Affairs Canada initially said it would not fund an 
evacuation, but reversed its decision after a regional doctor publicly 
unveiled photos of children suffering a variety of skin infections made 
worse by chlorine that had been dumped into the water to kill the bacteria.

Officials said Kashechewan's water has been free of E. coli since Oct. 
17, after a contractor fixed its chlorination machine.

And while most residents returned home in November, problems persist 
because frozen fire hydrants have not allowed the entire water system to 
be flushed out.

Provincial and Nishnawbe-Askia police forces, along with the fire 
marshal and coroner will investigate the blaze.


-- 
Macdonald Stainsby
http://independentmedia.ca/survivingcanada
http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/rad-green
In the contradiction lies the hope
    --Bertholt Brecht.