When government officials were invited to Serpent River First Nation to tour dead lakes, they refused to drink the coffee and tea. They were told not to worry; the beverages weren’t made from tailings pond water. Dr. Lianne Leddy told her grandmother’s story during Nipissing University’s 2022 Anne Clendinning Memorial Lecture. Leddy is the author of the new book, Serpent River Resurgence: Confronting Uranium Mining at Elliot Lake. Dr. Leddy is a member of Serpent River First Nation and associate professor in Indigenous Studies at Wilfred Laurier University.
Former Neskantaga contractor accused of cutting corners in other First Nations
“They cut corners every day, every day,” said Justin Gee, vice-president of First Nations Engineering Services Ltd. Gee said he encountered these recurring problems while overseeing the work of a construction firm, Kingdom Construction Limited (KCL), building a water treatment plant 10 years ago in Wasauksing First Nation, along the eastern shore of Georgian Bay, about 250 kilometres north of Toronto. “You have to be on them every step of the way,” said Gee, who was the contract administrator on the project. “You can’t leave them on their own.”