Not all dead babies were born equal

A terrible tragedy unfolded in Toronto last week. Three year old Elijah Marsh wandered away from his grandmother's apartment during one of the coldest nights of the winter. Canadians have responded with an out-pouring of grief and financial donations. Young Elijah's funeral fund has raised more that $150,000.

Elijah's tragic death came hard on the heels of the tragic deaths of two children in a house fire on a remote Saskatchewan Indian Reservation. Two year old Harley Cheenanow and his 18 month old sister Haley were also staying with their grandmother during one of the coldest nights of the winter.

The house caught fire, Haley and Harley died, and the closest fire department refused to respond because Haley and Harley's community hadn't paid up their fire department account.

Outside of their immediate community, their deaths have caused out-pourings of neither grief nor financial donations. Instead, there has been a plethora of media attention focused on the fact that the Makwa-Sahgaiehan First Nation was delinquent in its account for fire-fighting services with the nearby town of Loon Lake.

Aha!

It was THEIR fault!

No candlelight vigils, generous donations, or sympathetic publicity for Haley and Harley.

You want to believe this isn't true

How is it possible for a fire department to refuse to answer a fire call because the community at the other end of the line has an outstanding bill?

Going by early news reports, that's what happened this week at Loon Lake, Saskatchewan.

Loon Lake Fire Chief Larry Heon is quoted as saying that the nearby Makwa-
Sahgaiehcan First Nation had been warned about paying their bills.

I sincerely hope he was misquoted.

You let two kids burn to death because the grown-ups in their community haven't paid their bills?

How is such a thing even possible in the Canada I live in?