ADDICTED GAS-SNIFFING CHILDREN NEED HELP, PLEADS INNU CHIEF

ST. JOHN'S, Nfld. -- An Innu community built by the federal government to
help the Innu escape the addictions problems of their past is again plagued
by gas-sniffing children, says its leader.

Chief Simeon Tshakapesh said up to 40 children, some as young as 12, are
sniffing gasoline in Natuashish, and the Labrador community desperately
needs addictions treatment.

"Kids are sniffing right now. Something has to be done now, I think, in
order for these kids to be safe," Tshakapesh said yesterday, a day after
issuing an urgent plea for help on a call-in radio show.

The federal government has spent about $150 million relocating the Mushuau
Innu to the mainland community of Natuashish from Davis Inlet, Nfld.

But the closest place they can receive treatment is in Goose Bay, Nfld., a
one-hour flight away, said Tshakapesh.

A decade ago images of children sniffing gas fumes and threatening to kill
themselves in Davis Inlet shocked the nation and embarrassed the federal
government into building the new community. About 700 residents began to
relocate in December 2002, but problems continued to plague the Innu.

Alcohol abuse is rampant and vandalism by local youths delayed completion
of new homes by several months.

Tshakapesh says the children who were sent away nearly three years ago for
treatment in a makeshift detox centre in St. John's are back.

And most are back to sniffing gas, he said.

"It's the same thing over and over," he said.

When the children were sent away, Tshakapesh said he told Health Canada
that they would need follow-up family treatment upon their return. That
didn't happen.