Why did you kill 30 Badly-Needed Houses in Attawapiskat?

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Letter to John Duncan – Why did you kill 30 Badly-Needed Houses in Attawapiskat?

August 11, 2012.

An Open Letter by Timmins James Bay MP Charlie Angus and Jean Crowder, the MP for Nanaimo-Cowichan to the Minister.

Dear Minister John Duncan,

It has been over a week since the Federal Court determined your department’s decision to appoint a Third Party Manager in Attawapiskat last November was “unreasonable” and resulted from a failure to consider “more reasonable, more responsive, or less invasive remedies available.” In the days after this very clear ruling, you said you needed to spend more time thinking about the implications. We have decided to reach out to you to suggest concrete ways of mending the broken relationship in Attawapiskat. If you showed leadership, Attawapiskat could be a test case towards finding long-term sustainable solutions for northern First Nations.

At the outset, let’s deal with the key finding in the ruling by Justice Michael Phelan that Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada failed to understand the real problem in Attawapiskat, which was a lack of resources and equipment, not a problem of financial mismanagement.

To this end, we are disturbed that in the days following the court decision (August 2nd) you refused to provide a ministerial guarantee to support a plan that had been approved by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation to build 30 new duplexes in Attawapiskat through rents established at market rates. Since Attawapiskat has never defaulted on a housing loan it is not surprising that CHMC was willing to partner with the community.

Thirty new units would have gone a long way towards alleviating the serious levels of overcrowding in the community. As the band had already been approved by CMHC, your role was simply to sign a ministerial guarantee. This was not a hand-out but a forward-looking plan that to provide safe housing for families who are living in very precarious conditions.

It would be disturbing to think that this refusal to sign off on a credible funding arrangement for new housing may have been part of the ongoing punishment of the community for having spoken up about the dire housing conditions last November. Such a move would only further underline the sense of broken trust between your department and northern First Nations. Last week, Postmedia published an article revealing that your department is now dealing with “Attawapiskat Syndrome” among communities who fear that annual water inspections will be used to impose Third Party Managers on their communities.

It is imperative that you recognize that, in re-establishing a positive relationship with Attawapiskat, you are sending a signal that you are committed to building a positive working relationship with all First Nation communities. Certainly Chief Theresa Spence in Attawapiskat has been very forthright in her desire to work with you on more positive terms.

To this end, we would like to suggest concrete steps that will help end the suspicion with which you are being viewed by many communities. No doubt, you will recognize many of these ideas as ones brought forward in the media by independent experts who spoke out during the mismanagement of the Attawapiskat housing crisis:

Reimburse the community for the costs of the Third Party Manager. The imposition of the TPM was a political decision recognized by the Federal Court as an unreasonable burden for an already impoverished community.

Appoint a team to work directly with the community on implementing the Comprehensive Community Plan, created with the input of band members, to establish long term sustainability.

Set up meetings with provincial officials in order to transfer the land needed for an adequate land base to establish a new subdivision in the community.

Establish a planning team with architects and technical teams to make Attawapiskat a model for developing sustainable and cost-effective housing suited to the climate of the far north.

Immediately start work with the community on a new finance plan through CMHC to provide the opportunity for community-financed housing.

Commit to implementing medium-term and long-term development plans with adequate resources.

These steps will go a long way towards restoring the trust that your department lost through its handling of the Attawapiskat crisis. We all have a responsibility to ensure that the families in this community are given the chance at a safer and more sustainable life. If together we are willing to learn lessons from the crisis of the past winter, Canada will be a better place.

Sincerely,

Charlie Angus
Member of Parliament
Timmins-James Bay

Jean Crowder
Member of Parliament
Nanaimo-Cowichan
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BACKGROUND

CHIEF SPENCE COMMENTS ON COURT DECISION

ATTAWAPISKAT, ON – 1 August 2012. Attawapiskat was pleased and relieved to see the Federal Court’s decision this morning, declaring Canada’s actions in imposing third party management illegal. Chief Spence stated that “Our community continues to recover from the effects of that action, financially, and in terms of our Treaty relationship with Canada” in reaction to the decision.

Our members continue to struggle with the consequences of chronic and discriminatory underfunding affecting our First Nation, like most others. The housing crisis, which continues, was but one of these consequences.
We look forward to Canada working more effectively and collaboratively with our leadership, staff, and members. We hope that the health, security and prosperity enjoyed by our non-Aboriginal neighbours in our territory and throughout Canada will someday be enjoyed by our children. Our honour and the honour of Canada and the Crown depends on our respecting and strengthening our treaty relationship.

The Attawapiskat First Nation is a remote isolated First Nation in North Eastern Ontario, whose traditional territory includes lands around the Attawapiskat, and Ekwan river systems in Northern Ontario.

The Attawapiskat First nation comprises some 1,800 on reserve members.

For further information, please contact Chief Theresa Spence (807) 629-6704, or by e-mail to theresa.spence@attawapiskat.org
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COURT DECLARES APPOINTMENT OF THIRD PARTY MANAGER OVER ATTAWAPISKAT FIRST NATION TO HAVE BEEN UNREASONABLE

ATTAWAPISKAT, ON – 1 August 2012. Today Justice Phelan of the Federal Court released his decision on the challenge by Attawapiskat First Nation to the legality of the appointment of a Third Party Manager on November 30, 2011. The Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada appointed the Third Party Manager by way of a purported response to the serious housing crisis in the First Nation that came to public light in the fall and winter.

The Court accepted the position of Attawapiskat First Nation and determined that the appointment of the Third Party Manager was unreasonable and, therefore, unlawful. Specifically, while he accepted that the existence of a health and safety crisis constituted a technical “default” under the language of the Department’s Comprehensive Funding Agreement, he went on to find that the selection of a Third Party Manager was an inappropriate and unreasonable response. The Third Party Manager appointed did not have relevant expertise to address the actual problems faced by the First Nation, which were largely shortfalls in the financial and material resources required to effectively respond to the crisis. Justice Phelan rejected the suggestion that there was any management or financial impropriety or incapacity on the part of the First Nation, as implied by the Government in public statements.

Justice Phelan accepted Attawapiskat’s position on the collateral defences mounted by the Minister. He refused to accept the conclusion that the case had become moot when the Minister withdrew the appointment five days prior to the argument of the case. He equally refused to accept the submission that the dispute was about a private contract, and not reviewable by the Court other than in a lawsuit for damages for breach of contract.

He awarded the First Nation its costs of the litigation, and also granted a declaration that the appointment of the Third Party Manager was unreasonable.