Paul Dubé said that as soon as he landed in Neskantaga First Nation, the realities of the remote Ojibway community hit him hard.
At the airport, which the Ontario ombudsman described as a “dilapidated facility,” he was met by children with handmade signs calling for clean drinking water, a medical centre, an ambulance and a new school.
Dubé spoke with community members over two days last week about the many challenges they face daily — most notably, the longest boil-water advisory in the country at 30 years.
The ombudsman is an independent office of the Legislature that receives complaints about over 1,000 government and public-sector organizations. It aims to keep the government accountable, investigating concerns and making recommendations on improving public services.
After touring Neskantaga First Nation on the invitation of Chief Gary Quisses, Dubé has called on the provincial and federal governments “to take immediate action to address the unacceptable and unsafe conditions” in the community.
“I’m very unsettled by this visit and we want to find ways to contribute our services,” Dubé told CBC News.
Dubé described houses full of mould, a water treatment plant not fit for purpose, a new police station that can’t open due to a lack of telecommunications service and a temporary nursing station that isn’t meeting the community’s needs.
He also noted the First Nation’s small, aging school that only goes up to Grade 8 — forcing students to move to Sioux Lookout or Thunder Bay to complete high school.
“We were told that 50 per cent of the children in the school were on the autism spectrum but that they didn’t have the proper resources.”
The community of fewer than 400 people is about 500 kilometres north of Thunder Bay and has been waiting for a new youth cultural centre for almost a decade. Meanwhile, Dubé said, mental health and addiction issues continue to claim young lives.
“What stood out to me the most is the resilience of the community,” Dubé said. “They come together, they support each other … but there is frustration there — and I don’t blame them.
“It’s shocking to me that in Canada in 2025, people are living under those conditions. It just broke my heart.”
A spokesperson for Ontario’s Ministry of Indigenous affairs and First Nations economic reconciliation provided an emailed statement to CBC News late Friday night to address the ombudsman’s concerns.
“Our government is working alongside Neskantaga First Nation and the federal government on how to best support the resolution of long-term drinking water advisories, and community safety and well-being,” wrote Jenna DePaiva, the ministry’s director of communications.
DePaiva said the province works with First Nations and tribal councils to provide support for clean drinking water initiatives, but is also calling on the federal government “to fulfil its constitutional responsibility of ensuring safe water on reserves and adequate funding to water system operation, maintenance and training.”
A spokesperson for Indigenous Services Canada (ISC) told CBC News that Minister Mandy Gull-Masty has committed to meeting with Neskantaga’s chief and council “in the coming weeks,” though it is unclear whether that will be in person.
“We understand that addressing these long-standing infrastructure challenges requires not only funding, but also a collaborative, community-led approach.
“That is why we are committed to supporting solutions that reflect the needs, priorities and self-determined goals of Neskantaga First Nation,” ISC spokesperson Pascal Laplante said in an email on Friday.
According to Laplante, ISC has spent more than $155 million since 2020 to support “community infrastructure, and health and well-being programming” in Neskantaga.
Quisses told CBC News he’s lost count of how many premiers and prime ministers have been in power since Neskantaga’s boil-water advisory was put in place.
“Where is the accountability from both governments?” he asked. “We’re overlooked and we’re [living] in Third World conditions.”
While Neskantaga is situated on mineral-rich land that’s been eyed by countless prospectors, “there’s not a penny that comes to our community to fix our infrastructure,” Quisses said.
He said he’s grateful for the ombudsman’s visit to the First Nation, and also wants provincial and federal government members to see, first hand, the issues facing his community.
“I’d like to see both governments fast-track the community issues that we have. Right now, it’s [the opposite], where both governments are fast-tracking the development” of land.
The Ontario ombudsman’s office continues to develop its first Indigenous Services Plan — which aims to spread awareness about the challenges First Nations are going through and create guidelines for culturally responsive services.
In the meantime, Quisses said, he’ll continue speaking out about the struggles face by people in Neskantaga.
“We just gotta keep sharing the stories. Eventually, somebody will see the stories [that] the ombudsman is sharing.”
