MP Charlie Angus calls on feds to deploy armed services to James Bay coast

Charlie Angus, MP for Timmins-James Bay, is calling on the federal government for help in Kashechewan, citing a dramatic spike in the number of COVID-19 cases in communities along the James Bay coast.

Angus penned a letter to MP Bill Blair, Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, asking for a deployment of armed services members to the remote First Nation.

Cases recently shot up to 59 in the community of approximately 1,500, with many children getting sick.

Other communities along the coast have also been hit hard, with Fort Albany reporting 50 cases out of a population of 900.

In his letter, Angus said the situation is:

"...critical, and a potential disaster is looming from a lack of resources and chronic overcrowding."

Angus also said that the contingent of Canadian Rangers sent earlier to assist has been reduced due to COVID-19 exposure, with only 4 or 5 of them available to assist.