APTN National News
The House of Commons will hold an emergency debate Tuesday evening on the unfolding suicide crisis in Attawapiskat and similar tragedies that have hit other First Nations across the country this year.
Speaker Geoff Regan granted the request for the emergency debate Tuesday morning from NDP MP Charlie Angus, whose Ontario riding includes the James Bay Cree community of Attawapiskat.
Regan said Angus’ request met the requirements under the House of Commons rules for emergency debates.
“I note the gravity of the situation,” said Regan. “I therefore grant an emergency debate for this evening.”
The debate is expected to get underway at about 6:30 p.m. local time.
“There is an international scandal occurring in First Nation communities and the world is shocked by the tragedy,” said Angus, in a brief speech to the House of Commons requesting the debate. “People are looking to this parliament to explain the lack of hope. It is not just in Attawapiskat, but in so many Indigenous communities and they are looking to us in this new parliament to offer change.”
Attawapiskat’s band council declared a state of emergency Saturday evening after the community faced 11 suicide attempts in a 24-hour period and recorded 28 attempts and ideations in the month of March alone. The suicide of a 13-year-old girl in October is believed to have triggered the crisis which has primarily affected the community’s youth, but also adults and Elders.
This month’s state of emergency in Attawapiskat, however, was preceded by one in Manitoba’s Pimicikamak Cree Nation which faced six suicides and 140 suicide attempts over a two month span.
The New Year began with another tragedy, this time in the Saskatchewan Dene community of La Loche where a school shooting left four dead and seven injured.
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