"Superior Court challenge alleges governments fail to protect First Nation treaty rights"
"A First Nation in northwestern Ontario that has faced decades of mercury poisoning is suing the provincial and federal governments, arguing they've failed to protect its treaty rights.
Asubpeeschoseewagong Netum Anishinabek First Nation — known as Grassy Narrows — filed the lawsuit in Ontario's Superior Court of Justice on Tuesday morning.
It argues the governments have violated their duties under Treaty 3 by failing to protect against or remedy the effects of mercury contamination in the English-Wabigoon River system.
The allegations in this lawsuit haven't been tested in court.
Contamination of the river system dates back to the 1960s and '70s when Dryden's paper mill in northwestern Ontario dumped an estimated nine tonnes of mercury into the water.
Generations of people have consumed fish from the river. According to a previously reported study by medical specialists, about 90 per cent of the community of roughly 1,000 people experience symptoms of mercury poisoning. They include Chief Rudy Turtle."
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