OTTAWA — NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh is visiting Grassy Narrows First Nation in northern Ontario today, a community dealing with generations of mercury poisoning from contaminated water.
The federal government and Grassy Narrows have struggled to reach an agreement on building a treatment centre for victims of the mercury from an upstream paper mill, and the chief of the First Nation, Rudy Turtle, is running for the New Democrats against Liberal Bob Nault.
Grassy Narrows’ problems are a visible symbol of the challenges the Liberals have had with their promises to advance reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples.
Elizabeth May of the Green Party, meanwhile, is to make an announcement in British Columbia on the Green party’s own commitment to reconciliation.
Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer is campaigning but has a relatively low-key schedule of appearances with three candidates in ridings east of Toronto.
The Liberals’ Justin Trudeau has a day off the campaign trail.