In 2020, Imperial Oil had a spill. We raised the issue of the contaminated water then. In 2022, we were evacuated from the community because of a wildfire. We used boats and planes. With the boats at that time, we had a hard time evacuating people. We knew then it was an issue and that if it ever occurred again, we were going to have a problem.
In 2023, when the fire broke out in Fort McMurray and surrounding areas, because the Site C dam was filling up its pond for hydroelectric, it drained the water into the Fort Chip community. We raised the alarm and stated that if we were to ever have an evacuation again, our people would not be able to evacuate in a fast manner to a safe distance. We raised the issue about the big dock. We said that if Transport Canada doesn't do it, we will do the dredging ourselves. That's when we were told that if we did it, we would be incarcerated.
Once we found out everything, Transport Canada told us to go ahead and do it. When we were given permission to do it, we hired a contractor. When we hired the contractor, we found out that all the studies were done, and they said they couldn't touch it because there were too many contaminants there.