Ontario health minister says trip to Attawapiskat ‘deeply upsetting’ but hopeful

TORONTO — Ontario’s health minister says his visit to a remote First Nations community in the midst of a suicide crisis was just as devastating as the years he spent as a doctor in war zones around the world.

Eric Hoskins has just returned from a short visit to Attawapisakat, where dozens of youth have tried to kill themselves over the past few months.

He says his meeting with a group of youth on Wednesday in the isolated community near James Bay was overwhelmingly emotional, but also provided a glimmer of hope.

READ MORE: Ontario health minister announces up to $2 million in aid and resources for Attawapiskat

Hoskins says his resolve to help solve the crisis, both as a human being and a politician, has been strengthened by the visit.

He tells of a heart-wrenching discussion with the mother of Sheridan Hookimaw, a 13-year-old girl who killed herself last fall.

Hoskins says he met with dozens of youth over several hours after a three-hour meeting with Attawapiskat’s leaders.

WATCH: Politicians gather for emergency debate on Attawapiskat suicide crisis

1:37 Politicians gather for emergency debate on Attawapiskat suicide crisis

“I was so impressed at their courage,” Hoskins told The Canadian Press.

“But also that there is a path and they’ve pointed the way as to what should happen.”

He says Ontario will follow their lead, both in the short term with plans to bring in 13 health-care workers to deal with the crisis with round-the-clock mental health care, and in the long term with more support.

READ MORE: Attawapiskat: After a 6-hour debate, what did MPs accomplish?

On Monday, officials thwarted what they called a suicide pact by 13 young aboriginal people on the First Nation, including a nine-year-old, after they were overheard making plans to kill themselves.

Attawapiskat’s leaders declared a state of emergency on Saturday, citing 11 suicide attempts so far in the month of April and 28 recorded attempts in March.

Hoskins said he was taken aback when some of the children he met Wednesday were around the age of the nine-year-old child who was caught up in the suicide pact earlier in the week.

“It’s deeply upsetting that when you have children that young that are in such pain or have lost hope that they’re turning to that kind of consideration, it just demonstrates just how serious this situation is and how important action is,” Hoskins said.