On Wednesday afternoon, around 250 people rallied quietly through downtown Toronto to exact action from the Ontario Government for the mercury poisoning that they say has been taking place on the Grassy Narrows First Nation for ages.

Grassy Narrows inhabitant, Judy Da Silva, who arranged the march said, “I think a lot of people in these buildings, in these cities, they don’t see … the devastation in our communities”.

Da Silva said that the community’s watercourses have become like “poison” to its citizens.

Grassy Narrows First Nation is a district of roughly 1,000 people and about an hour’s journey northeast of Kenora.

Da Silva said that they still have a long way to go to make the water dirt-free again, to make the land alive again.

The protestors blame the McGuinty Government of not taking accountability for letting the Dryden Pulp & Paper Co. to plonk 9,000 kg of mercury into the Wabigoon River between 1962 and 1970.

They appealed the Provincial Government to acknowledge the lasting effects of mercury poisoning on the district, and asked the Federal Government to fortify mercury guidelines.

Grassy Narrows Chief, Simon Fobister, said, “We’ve been seeking justice for 40 years. Our health condition is worsening, generation after generation. This has got to stop”.

Health Canada says that mercury levels in the community have dropped below their minimum guidelines, but inhabitants and protesters say that the lasting effects of mercury poisoning continue to curse the district in the form of chronic health troubles, birth defects and contamination of land and water.