Evidence of meeting #86 for Indigenous and Northern Affairs in the 42nd Parliament, 1st session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was fire.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Conservative
Band Administrator, Ashcroft Indian Band
That's what we're working on, yes, so far.
Conservative
Cathy McLeod Conservative Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo, BC
I know that the Red Cross plays different roles in different disasters, depending on the kinds of circumstances. What role would you have perceived they would play that they didn't play for you?
Band Administrator, Ashcroft Indian Band
It was just being a presence and a support. They were looking at me as the band administrator to answer every question and to do everything. Meanwhile, I'm sort of over here in response. I needed another third party or agency to help just with basic needs. I couldn't be running out and getting people clothes and toothbrushes. I was busy dealing with other things. We needed a presence there just to listen to assess their needs, to find out what their needs were, and to help figure out where to get that, whether it was medication, money for food, accommodations, or that kind of thing.
They've since been fantastic. After several months we formed a close relationship, and they've been really helpful since then. It was just hard because people knew they were in Kamloops, people knew they were in Cache Creek, but they did not come to our community.
Conservative
Cathy McLeod Conservative Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo, BC
You said you could write a book. If you have recommendations for the committee, please write them for us.
Romeo Saganash NDP Abitibi—Baie-James—Nunavik—Eeyou, QC
Thank you, Madam Chair.
I know I welcomed Jodene already, but I want to start by thanking you for your offer to help other communities. It's always comforting to see communities that have gone through trying times learn from that experience. I want to thank you for that.
I also want to get your contacts, because we experience more and more fires where I'm from in north Quebec. I know it's a similar situation in northern Ontario as well, especially the fact that you have to deal with bureaucracy now, after such a trying experience. Thank you for your contribution here.
NDP
Romeo Saganash NDP Abitibi—Baie-James—Nunavik—Eeyou, QC
You mentioned, when you talked about the insurance, that you're expecting the federal government to fill the gap for what the insurance didn't pay. How much money are we talking about? Have you had a response from INAC?
Band Administrator, Ashcroft Indian Band
We're still trying to figure it out, and they're still trying to figure out what EMBC is going to cover and what they're going to cover. They're still kind of going back and forth with that. We're kind of in the middle of that. We're talking a couple of a million of dollars, at least.
We're not trying to build fancy, big houses. We're just trying to build solid houses that won't look like they're falling apart after five years. We tried to skip the modular trailers, and we can't afford stick-built homes, but we're trying to build nice homes for these people. It's somewhere between $2 million and $2.5 million.
NDP
Romeo Saganash NDP Abitibi—Baie-James—Nunavik—Eeyou, QC
Have they indicated how long it's going to take to get a final response?
Band Administrator, Ashcroft Indian Band
No, and when we originally had a lot of INAC personnel coming it was, “Yes, yes, anything you need.” Since then it's backed off a little bit to my now having to jump through hoops and stuff, which I will do. I don't mind. I know they have their different pots of money. They have to figure out where they're getting it from, too. I'm just waiting.
Our community is getting frustrated. They're over the shock now. Now the anger's set in, the frustration has set in. As the face of the band, it's directed at me a little bit. I'm trying to find an answer of when the money's coming.
NDP
Romeo Saganash NDP Abitibi—Baie-James—Nunavik—Eeyou, QC
I don't want to disappoint you, but in one experience a couple of years ago, there were forest fire evacuees from northern Ontario who were sent into my riding in Quebec to be lodged in the hotels in Val-d'Or. For a bill of $21,000, it took over a year to get that reimbursed.
We also talked about the Red Cross and how you pleaded and begged them to come. Have you spoken to them since then? Did they give you any reason as to why it took so long?
Band Administrator, Ashcroft Indian Band
They didn't give me reasons, but they just.... I don't know if they understood the need. I think people just needed to grab on, to see the Red Cross there, even if it was just in the parking lot. They just needed to see that somebody else cared, and I think that wasn't understood.
As I said, they didn't understand the obstacles or the barriers faced by our first nation community. You can't just send an e-transfer. There's no power. If you ask most of our elders, “What's your email?”, they just.... Our staff were running here and there. They couldn't be sitting with our members to help them set up emails, although they ended up doing that because we worked long days.
It was just barrier after barrier. I kind of made a joke that EMBC and Red Cross needed a first nation 101 training on what it's really like, because the comments people were making suggested they had never set foot on a reserve before. It sounds good on paper, but it actually didn't really work.
NDP
Romeo Saganash NDP Abitibi—Baie-James—Nunavik—Eeyou, QC
I totally agree.
Talk to me a bit about the quality of houses in your first nation community. I know that in a lot of communities, the quality of houses is pretty poor because of the funding limits that are usually imposed. Is that situation similar in your community?
Band Administrator, Ashcroft Indian Band
No. They were older homes, but through INAC's housing funding, we had done RRAPs and renovations on just about every home in our community within the last two or three years. They were nice, well-kept homes. It was a shame. I guess that's why we were so shocked when the value came in so low.
NDP
Romeo Saganash NDP Abitibi—Baie-James—Nunavik—Eeyou, QC
I asked the question because I saw the pictures this summer, and most of them were pretty wiped out—devastated.
NDP
Romeo Saganash NDP Abitibi—Baie-James—Nunavik—Eeyou, QC
I'm almost done here. I notice that you didn't manage to go through all of your notes. Is there additional information you would like to mention that would be relevant for this committee?
Band Administrator, Ashcroft Indian Band
I think one of the frustrating things that we're facing right now is that, before the fire, we were set to log in our community, on our reserve, in our territory. Because of the fire, the province has halted that, and in the meantime, our forestry licence is expiring. It's a significant amount of money that our first nation is out. We're talking about half a million dollars. They've put a 60-day hold on it. Our forestry licence expires in a week, so that's huge. We need that money to rebuild. We need it for further economic opportunities. It has been a huge setback for us. That's frustrating.
I think I hit most of our things. We were disappointed with our local regional district. We still would like to bring that up with them and say where their gaps were. I don't even know if they realize how their lack of support affected our community. I don't even think it's on their radar.
NDP
Romeo Saganash NDP Abitibi—Baie-James—Nunavik—Eeyou, QC
Thank you again. Don't be surprised if you get calls from Cree communities in northern Quebec, and thanks for that offer.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal MaryAnn Mihychuk
That concludes our meeting.
Thank you so much for sharing your story. You presented it in a way that we could all understand. You brought new information. On behalf of all MPs and those who work here, we want to thank you.
Please submit your full presentation and any additional notes to the clerk, and we'll be sure to include that as part of our evidence for the study.
Thank you very much.