When are we gonna stop the insanity?
OTTAWA, TORONTO -- Indian Affairs Minister Jim Prentice says there is a good reason why the vast majority of homes in Pikangikum have no running water and toilets: He says it is the custom of residents of the remote Ojibwa community to bury their loved ones in the family backyard, making it difficult to install water and sewage pipes without disturbing graves.How about we just go with one law, one people?
There is a water plant, but only 20 of the community's 387 houses are hooked up to it, leaving the rest without water and sewage facilities.
The large blue pipes that were supposed to connect the rest of the houses to the water plant have sat discarded in fields around the reserve since 2001, when work on various projects ground to a halt.
We could call them Canadians.
**********
UPDATE: 9 Nov 2006 - Liberal MP Roger Valley checks in
"I've always been worried that these burial sites are going to interfere with some of the future plans of the community," he said. "I'm going to go there and ask that very specific question: Are there instances here you can show me where we are not allowed to bring in the water and sewer pipes because of this, and how do we deal with this?"**********
Technorati Tags: Pikangikum, First Nations, aboriginal
