The medical evacuation of 16 children from Kashechewan First Nation is underway.
Three children covered in sores and rashes have already been flown out of the remote community for emergency treatment, while Health Canada works to find placements for 13 more.
Door-to-door visits will be conducted Tuesday until Thursday following the medical evacuation.
Doctors will be checking all children and try to determine how many more youth are developing similar symptoms.
Timmins-James Bay MP Charlie Angus, whose riding includes the reserve, says he can’t say for certain if the crisis is water-related.
He stresses the crisis points to a compromised health system for the entire Nishnawbe Aski Nation.
The NDP Indigenous Affairs Critic says now Canada knows what “third world poverty looks like”, noting it’s another devastating blow to the troubled northern First Nation.
