Attawapiskat third-party manager “sitting on” funds for new houses: NDP MP Angus

The outside consultant hired by the federal Aboriginal Affairs department to manage Attawapiskat’s finances “is sitting on" funds the community needs to prepare site work for new modular homes awaiting transport to the community, according to NDP MP Charlie Angus.

Angus said officials from diamond company De Beers, which operates a diamond mine near the community, are ready to prepare the site for the 22 modular homes the department purchased in response to the housing crisis in the community. The homes, built in New Brunswick, are current awaiting shipment in Moosonee, Ont.

Angus said in question period Wednesday that the third-party manager has not only “cut off” funds preventing site work for the homes, but also for Attawapiskat’s education system.

“Canadians expect a just resolution to the Attawapiskat crisis, but the minister prefers to punish the community,” said Angus, MP for Timmins-James Bay. “It has been two months since he has cut off all the funding to the education system and to students. He has cut off the funding that is needed to actually prepare the site so the modular homes can be brought in.”

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