Ref. #2-3649
OTTAWA, ONTARIO (April 5, 2012) – The Honourable John Duncan, Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development, issued the following statement regarding the withdrawal of the third-party funding agreement management for Attawapiskat First Nation:
"In recognition of the accomplishments that have been achieved in substantially addressing the urgent health and safety needs of affected Attawapiskat residents through the third-party manager, we have notified the Attawapiskat First Nation of the Department's intent to move the First Nation out of third-party funding agreement management and back to co-management.
The Third Party Manager was put in place to support measures to address the urgent health and safety needs and to ensure that affected families have access to safe and warm shelter.
The completion of the installation of 22 modular homes and renovation work on three existing homes will allow for the 25 affected families to move in by the end of this month. The efforts to achieve this milestone have been significant, and I would like to thank the Third Party Manager for his hard and diligent work.
I am very pleased by our collective accomplishments and look forward to further progress working with the people of Attawapiskat."
Minister's Office
Jan O'Driscoll
Press Secretary
Office of the Honourable John Duncan
819-997-0002
Media Relations
Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada
819-953-1160
