Chief Michele Solomon says Fort William First Nation is often hit with multiple losses at once, but it never gets any easier.
The Ojibway community, which neighbours Thunder Bay, Ont., is grieving the loss of five of its members in recent days, two of which succumbed to a travel trailer fire early Saturday morning. Fewer than 1,000 people live in the First Nation.
The fatal blaze remains under investigation, a spokesperson for Ontario’s Office of the Fire Marshal told CBC News. The cause, origin and estimated damages have yet to be determined.
“The losses seem to be in clusters of more than a couple of people. It seems like this is just how it’s been over the last few years,” Solomon told CBC News on Tuesday.
“A lot of deaths that we have seen are connected to substance use, not all directly but sometimes indirectly … and so we’ve lost a lot of young people as well.”
Fort William First Nation declared a state of emergency over the toxic drug crisis last summer. Since then, it’s purchased a facility at an undisclosed, off-reserve location to support people who have completed a detox program as they wait to get into treatment.
Fort William First Nation declares state of emergency over drugs and violence
However, the community needs external funding to get that facility up and running.
“Being in a First Nation and having limited resources, being so close to the city, it really puts us in a vulnerable place,” said Solomon. “We’re very easily accessible to people that are involved in the drug trade, people that are involved in gang-related activity.”
The Thunder Bay district, which encompasses Fort William First Nation, continues to have the highest opioid-related death rate in the province, the latest report from Ontario’s Office of the Chief Coroner says.
“Having the ability to have immediate treatment resources is certainly something that we see as helpful, but also having supports right in the community is also something that is needed,” Solomon said.
Meanwhile, the First Nation also lacks 24/7 policing services, which is also creating safety concerns, she added.
The community is served by the Anishinabek Police Service, and while the Ontario Provincial Police provides support where it can, she said there’s a need for a more consistent police presence in the community.
A sacred fire is being lit every day this week in honour of those who have died. Meanwhile, a series of drop-in sessions are being offered at the community centre, with food, craft supplies and on-site counselling and elder support available.
Four separate travel trailer fires were reported in the Thunder Bay district in a one-week period, two of which occurred in Fort William First Nation.
While Solomon said she doesn’t want to speculate on the cause of the blazes, she knows people have been living in travel trailers due to the region’s housing and homelessness crisis.
“They’re just not meant to be used with extra heating sources that have to be plugged in, the voltage that’s required to maintain space heaters and things like that,” said Solomon. “It’s a complicated situation that can turn into something tragic very quickly.”
With a lack of available housing and unaffordable rents in Thunder Bay, “I honestly don’t know how people survive sometimes,” she said.
CBC News has reached out to Indigenous Services Canada for comment on the housing and addictions support it provides to Fort William First Nation, and is awaiting a response.
In the meantime, Solomon said families are waiting for their loved ones’ remains to be returned to the First Nation before funeral arrangements can be made. Since Thunder Bay lacks the ability to conduct autopsies locally, remains from the region are sent to Toronto for this service.
For years, there have been calls for the province to create a new forensic identification centre in Thunder Bay; it was one of the recommendations in the Office of the Independent Police Review Director’s Broken Trust report.
Solomon encourages community members to lean on each other during this difficult time, and to reach out to the First Nation’s staff for further resources.
“I want to definitely acknowledge the outpouring of support that has been offered in terms of food and people wanting to help with [the] sacred fire,” she said. “That is welcomed and very appreciated.”
