The community’s 2,500 residents would normally escape to cities such as Thunder Bay or Timmins to avoid nearly annual post-winter flooding, but are now stuck because of COVID-19
Kashechewan chief Leo Friday joins other members of the First Nation at a rally demanding the relocation of the community, in front of Queen's Park in Toronto, on April 29, 2019.Winter still lingers over the Northern Ontario community of Kashechewan. But soon, the frozen Albany River will begin to break up and threaten to flood the First Nation, as it does nearly every year.
Chief Leo Friday is in talks with Indigenous Services Canada and Emergency Management Ontario about how to deal with the situation should his community flood this month. Charlie Angus, the NDP MP for the Timmins-James Bay area, said many chiefs are stuck between a rock and a hard place as the pandemic brings long-standing inequities to the forefront.
Thunder Bay Mayor Bill Mauro said the city is already “so overwhelmed when it comes to the capacity and the ability to provide our emergency services – paramedics, police and fire” that it has to shut its doors to all potential evacuees. In a written statement, an ISC spokesperson said: “We have provided $8-million in COVID-19 emergency funding to support the immediate response needs of Ontario First Nations and Indigenous organizations in the last few weeks.”
Last week, Indigenous Services Minister Marc Miller said more than $690-million in funding is being directed toward the health response to COVID-19 in Indigenous communities. But Mr. Yesno and other Indigenous leaders say there has been a delay in getting the protective equipment and health resources they need.
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