While the people of the Attawapiskat reserve waited for much-needed help, Canada responded with a "lost week" filled with bickering over who was responsible for the squalid conditions in the native community, according to the MP who represents the region.
During an appearance on CTV's Question Period, NDP MP Charlie Angus said the federal government has yet to decide on a focused plan to help the northern Ontario reserve.
"We spent much of the week bickering. ... My concern is we don't really see where we're going next," he said.
But Conservative MP Greg Rickford of Kenora said Ottawa has responded quickly to the crisis.
"We've taken some concrete steps in the community," he said. "Our officials were there most of the week setting down the details of an emergency management plan."
Rickford added that high-energy wood stoves would soon be brought to Attawapiskat and repairs would begin "very shortly" on the three houses most in need. He said some people could be housed temporarily in a healing centre and part of a community centre.
Angus replied that the solution is fleeting at best.
"You can't keep people in that hockey arena for very long," he said. "There are no shower facilities. It would be very, very temporary at most."
He pointed out that there are greater issues to discuss with regards to the future of Attawapiskat and other northern reserves but that conversation will have to wait for another day "because we really need a plan in place to get these people through the winter."
Last month the reserve declared a state of emergency and called in the Red Cross to help those living in tents and trailers, which in some cases are surrounded by raw sewage.
John Saunders, the Ontario director of disaster management for the Canadian Red Cross, said he was shocked by the living conditions in Attawapiskat.
"We're not necessarily used to seeing people living in shacks and sheds," he said. "And especially the numbers of people, where we're seeing five or six people living in an 8-foot-by-10-foot space as their entire living area. ... It's somewhat shocking to many."
For the short term, the Red Cross has brought in sleeping bags and space heaters to help keep people warm but there are plans to bring in generators and additional heaters.
Ottawa has sent in a third-party manager to oversee the finances of the reserve, which has received $90 million in federal funds over the past five years.
Another guest on Question Period, former Indian affairs minister Chuck Strahl said the gap between well run and poorly run reserves is growing in Canada and he blamed that problem on the inability of some natives to run their own affairs.
"We do need to do a better job of training," he said, noting that a community of a few hundred people should not be expected to have experts in housing and other aspects of municipal infrastructure.
Stahl also said the native reserves are forced to operate under "an archaic system of funding" where everything is a cash transaction and there are no allowances for mortgages or loans.
"No modern government in the world uses that style," he said.
In an open letter released Thursday, Attawapiskat Chief Theresa Spence said "smashing the status quo" of government-native relations is essential to the future of not only her reserve but many others in Canada.
"It should not take a crisis to prompt change," Spence wrote. "Blaming is hurtful and pointless."
With files from The Canadian Press
