First Nation Kids Evacuated Over Emergency Health Crisis

Canadian authorities decided Monday to evacuate children from Kashechewan First Nation in Ontario, after outrage spread over the weekend on social media when pictures emerged of them with rashes and painful sores on their bodies.

Dozens more Kashechewan children suffering with skin lesions to be evacuated https://t.co/zWXDVQurqE

— Connie Walker (@connie_walker) March 21, 2016

“These children really are the face of a much larger systemic [health] crisis that is facing northern First Nation communities," denounced Charlie Angus, the NDP Indigenous affairs critic in a press conference, among other ministerial officials and Aboriginal leaders.

"The pictures of those children were so shocking and so heartbreaking that it woke Canadians up across the country," Angus said.

"They were saying 'what the hell is happening in our country that children are getting sick like this?''

Unbelievable. But......it's not. It's happened before in the community of #Kashechewan First Nation. #cdnpoli pic.twitter.com/iPJqtBa7BJ

— Martha Maiingan (@ozhibiiige) March 20, 2016

A total of 16 children have been or will be evacuated so far for further examination and possible treatment, according to local media.

Health Minister Jane Philpott commented on the case, claiming that there was no evidence yet that the children's condition was related to the quality of drinking water.

“The water has been tested as recently as last Tuesday and we know that it meets all of the appropriate standards for safety and drinking water and water to be used for other purposes."

However, she admitted about Aboriginal peoples in the country, "The health conditions that we are seeing in First Nations communities like Kashechewan and the very serious and concerning gaps in health outcomes are not new, unfortunately."

"It is a sad reality. It is a reality that we are facing front on, that I am working with my officials in Health Canada to address."

However, Nishnawbe Aski Nation Grand Chief, Alvin Fiddler, criticized what he called a “short-term” perspective from state officials.

During the press conference, he said the government needed to also tackle broader systemic issues, such as a lack of clean drinking water, proper housing and possible mould issues, to determine why health problems are plaguing reserves.

Fiddler also said he is still waiting to hear from Philpott in response to the public health emergency.

"Here we are a month after our declaration was issued and we are still trying to confirm meetings with the federal health minister," he said. "Meanwhile, things are deteriorating."

One month earlier, northern Ontario First Nations leaders, including Fiddler, decided to declare a public health emergency, and gave governments a 90-day deadline to provide communities with a detailed intervention plan.