The uncertainty of spring is arriving to Kashechewan First Nation in northern Ontario and with it the threat of the flooding that has plagued the Cree reserve year after year.
Residents say they are happy the federal, provincial and First Nations governments have signed an agreement to explore moving the community to higher ground but it’s been a long time coming for families who have to leave their homes for weeks, even months, evacuating to other cities and towns.
The 2,300 residents of Kashechewan also cope with poor drinking water, lack of healthcare and mould in their homes.
"I want to have a good sustainable community and a sustainable family life," said Chief Leo Friday. He said the community has been living in crisis for too long and it’s affecting the children the most. He said the reserve needs more housing, more nurses and more teachers.
“We need to have some kind of settlement in our place, in our hearts, in our lives.”
Carolyn Bennett, minister of Indigenous and Northern Affairs, said the community is a “testimony to resilience” and residents are feeling “rightfully cautious optimism.”
“This is huge. This is the collaborative approach at a difficult time when the community will have to decide to move or if to move (and) where to move."
A community referendum last year found that 89 per cent of residents support relocation.
But some wonder how many more springs of worry and threat they will have to live through.
"How long of a period are we going to have to wait before we actually move? In the meantime, we are still going to be living in the danger zone. We’re still going to be here every spring until we actually move,” Elaine Friday, a Kashechewan resident, told CTV News.
Charlie Angus, the NDP MP for Timmins-James Bay, posted to his Facebook page: “This is an important time for change. The federal government must follow through on its promises to restore hope and take seriously the need to look at relocation. The young generation deserves a future of hope.”
Timmins-James Bay MPP Gilles Bisson says relocation is the best choice and the agreement is a step forward, but he cautions that a solid timeframe and committed funds to pull that off is a long way off.
In a video posted to Facebook, Bisson said: “This is good news for the community. Chief Leo Friday and his council and his team have been working very hard to make this happen and today that is the day that we're going to be going up, Ontario, Canada and Kashechewan finally signing an agreement in order to relocate the community of Kashechewan."
Kashechewan has no hospital and its residents are treated by doctors who are flown in to the community every two weeks. Those doctors have found extensive health issues arising out of mould in buildings. Many of the structures are boarded up after repeated water damage from the flooding of the Albany River, which jams with ice each spring.
Like many other remove First Nation reserves, Kashechewan has drinking water issues. In November, Health Canada reported that 130 boil-water orders are in place in 85 communities. Last week’s federal budget committed $4 billion over 10 years to address First Nation living conditions many describe as third world.
Relocating Kashechewan has been on the table since at least 2005, when the federal Liberal government under Paul Martin agreed to spend roughly $500 million over 10 years to build a new community for its residents, about 30 kilometres up river, where it would be less likely to flood.
But the Stephen Harper Conservatives backed a plan to move the community’s residents 450 kilometres south to Timmins. Kashechewan’s leaders rejected that plan and the government responded by committing to repairing housing at an estimated cost of $200 million.
