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The Attawapiskat First Nation has declared a state of emergency after an influx of attempted suicides.

M-P and N-D-P Indigenous affairs critic Charlie Angus says this winter has been a “rolling nightmare” of suicide attempts.

The James Bay coastal community’s chief and council to declare a state of emergency on Saturday.

Mushkegowuk Council, Grand Chief, Jonathan Solomon says their mental health teams deal with 11 suicide call Saturday alone and 28 in March.

“The number has escalating in the last weeks to the point where leadership and people on the ground are exhausted responding the high volume of calls.”

Solomon says he’s pleased with the Liberals pledging $8 billion to bring First Nation communities up to par with the rest of the country but that’s a big piece of pie to fight over.

“There are over 600 First Nation communities across the country fighting for this money.  How much is going to health care? How much is going to infrastructure?”

Resident Jackie Hookimaw says the suicide epidemic started last fall, when her 13-year-old great niece took her own life and a number of other people tried to kill themselves

The federal and Ontario health ministers say a crisis team, including mental health nurses and social workers, is being flown immediately to the James Bay community of about two-thousand.