Mr. Chair, our priority always is to ensure the safety of all community members in Kashechewan, and that is why we have made investments to hire an emergency preparedness coordinator to help James Bay first nations, including Kashechewan, prepare for and manage potential flooding.
However, for the information of the member, within weeks of my appointment in 2013 in this department, I went to Kashechewan. I sat with the chief and councillors and elders of that community. We offered to do a study to see how we could address that issue. We discussed the relocation of the community, and they told me in plain, clear language that no, they did not want to be relocated.
If the member is arguing that the government should force communities to relocate against their will, she can tell me and she can take that position.