The housing crisis in Attawapiskat has influenced third-year public affairs and policy management student Graham Shonfield to camp in a tent outside of the Unicentre for 88 hours.
Shonfield’s goal is to raise awareness about the issues surrounding the northern Ontario reserve. Attawapiskat issued a state of emergency Oct. 28 and the Red Cross intervened in late November.
The Conservative government has put around $90 million into the community since they’ve been in office in 2006, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said in a Canadian Press article.
Residents of Attawapiskat live in mouldy tents, disrepaired houses and trailers. Shonfield will be camping outside from 8 a.m. Dec. 5 to midnight Dec. 8.
“I’m living in solidarity like the five families living in tents in Attawapiskat . . . and then I’m also raising money for the First Nations Caring Society [of Canada],” Shonfield said.
Shonfield said he wants to raise $1,000 for the society, specifically their program “Shannen’s Dream,” which strives to provide safe schools and adequate education to First Nations children.
Shonfield said Attawapiskat hasn’t had a primary school in 12 years, although the government promised one for them back in 2009.
“I’ve just been trying to get involved in as many things as I can, so when I heard about all the media attention Attawapiskat was getting, I wanted to take advantage of this opportunity and fundraise,” Shonfield said.
Shonfield said the inspiration for his activism came from the movie Titanic.
“I saw how the boats that weren’t filled [with people] didn’t go back to help the others that were drowning,” Shonfield said. “I almost felt . . . like we weren’t helping the people of Attawapiskat, like we were letting them drown and so I really wanted to do what I could . . . to help them out and raise money.”
Shonfield said he’s been dealing with the issues facing First Nations for the last three years. He volunteered in the Gull Bay reserve, located near Thunder Bay, Ont., last summer.
“I spent . . . six weeks there and ended up making a documentary from their perspective about what life on a reserve was like. Ever since then, I’ve just been trying to get involved with as many things as I can,” Shonfield said. “It’s an issue really close to my heart.”
Hillory Tenute, a second-year doctoral student at Carleton and self-defined aboriginal activist, was raising money for Attawapiskat through a bake sale in the Unicentre the first day Shonfield spent outside.
“I think what [Shonfield] is doing is a fantastic job,” Tenute said. “Right now, I think the most important part is creating awareness about what’s going on. The more people we can educate, the more of a difference we can really make on a structural level, as well as on campus.”
Tenute said it’s not fair to be focusing on only those from Attawapiskat because it caught media attention.
“We need to look into that this is happening across Canada. This isn’t just one instance. This is one of many instances,” Tenute said. “Therefore I feel that we need to pay tribute to the other communities.”