Councillor Jon Chadi was initially diagnosed with a rare form of bile duct cancer shortly after he won his third election, but that did not stop him from calling in to attend meetings as the councillor for Fort McKay and Fort Chipewyan when he could not attend in person for medical reasons. John Chadi passed away on Sunday, November 15, at around 6 p.m. Chadi was in Edmonton at the Royal Alexandra Hospital, and his friends and family say that he never stopped fighting despite the odds stacked against him. Sine Chadi, the yoiunger brother of the councillor, told reporters “He fought a courageous battle against this bile duct cancer, he was diagnosed about two years ago and the doctors had determined that he probably would have three or four months to live. So, you know, he refused to accept that prognosis and he went on. But he eventually lost the battle.”

After councilor John Chadi was diagnosed with bile duct cancer, a very rare cancer that was unexpected, there were 3 others in the Fort Chipewyan area that were also diagnosed with this disease. The province did not expect any cases for this type of cancer so when 3 others were diagnosed along with Chadi this was a cause for alarm for local residents. Chief Allan Adam stated“It’s just a grim reminder of the fact that as long as we turn a blind eye to the issue of what’s going on in the community when it comes to health concerns, we will always have tragic moments like this in the community. It just so happens that we lost a prominent person of the community, a good leader, that pushed a lot of things that needed to get done for the community.” Many people believe that the cancer increase in the area is caused by oilsand site contamination flowing downstream. Councillor John Chadi will be sorely missed. Do you think the cancers are caused by oilsand site contamination? Why or why not?