WINNIPEG — Federal politicians are to blame for a suicide epidemic that has swept through the Pikangikum First Nation, says a doctor who got lost last week while on a spiritual quest just outside the community.
“The prime minister and minister of Indian Affairs are directly contributing to the suicide deaths in Pikangikum,” Dr. Michael Monture said Wednesday.
The First Nation in northwestern Ontario is embroiled in a dispute with Indian Affairs Minister Robert Nault, who has lifted local control over spending.
Monture said the 2,100 residents of the tiny, impoverished reserve have limited access to decent housing, education, health care, clean drinking water and fresh food.
“The people of the Pikangikum Nation are being denied the basics of life.”
It was the poverty and hunger he saw that drove Monture into the wilderness to commune with the Creator, he said.
How much the funding dispute has contributed to the poverty he saw is uncertain, however, since band residents are continuing to receive social assistance.
Monture, 42, is a Mohawk who works for the hospital in Sioux Lookout, Ontario, and has been hired by the Independent First Nations Alliance to provide some services in nearby Pikangikum.
