Kashechewan community members choose to remain in their traditional territory
Ottawa balks at $500M cost of moving Kashechewan within traditional land
Thursday, March 15, 2006 - Canadian Press: SUE BAILEY
OTTAWA (CP) - Residents of the besieged Kashechewan reserve have turned down a recommended move to Timmins, Ont., in favour of rebuilding within their traditional land - an option government estimates suggest will cost $500 million.
Indian Affairs Minister Jim Prentice promptly balked Thursday at the cost despite repeatedly saying the people could choose whether to relocate. The tiny Cree First Nation wants to move on to high ground along the flood-prone Albany River about 450 kilometres north of Timmins.
"(Prentice) said he cannot accept that because where will the money come from?" said Stan Louttit, grand chief of the Mushkegowuk Council representing Kashechewan.
"It's going to cost too much."
Kashechewan leaders say the move within their traditional hunting grounds near James Bay was promised by the former Liberal government. An agreement to rebuild the remote fly-in reserve was reached in October 2005.
It came just days after photos of toddlers with skin rashes blamed on dirty water made Kashechewan an international poster child for aboriginal poverty and federal neglect.
"Certainly that was not the consensus of the community - that they move to Timmins," said Louttit. "That's what (Prentice) wanted."
The minister wasn't pleased with the community's own consultation called the Voice of the People, Louttit said.
"I think the chief will have to go home and tell the people of Kashechewan that the government does not support what they want. It's going to be very, very devastating."
Prentice was not immediately available for comment. He has himself described living conditions on the reserve as "deplorable."
Still, whopping cost projections have cast the issue in a new light, said his spokesman Bill Rodgers.
"They were given the choice to make their own decision, and that's what they've done," he said after the meeting with Kashechewan leaders wrapped up. "According to the calculations we've seen, it's the most expensive option there is.
"If the cost estimate remains in the range we're looking at right now, it's unlikely the government would go for that option."
Relocating from scratch about 35 kilometres up the Albany River would cost an estimated $500 million, say internal government documents obtained by The Canadian Press. "This scenario will not provide any additional economic opportunity for the community."
Prentice appointed former Ontario cabinet minister Alan Pope to study options and poll the people. Pope recommended last fall that Kashechewan be rebuilt on the outskirts of Timmins - an option that would cost about $200 million, say the federal documents. It's among the cheapest of several relocations studied.
"The reserve on the Albany River would continue to be their reserve," Pope said last November in response to concerns about assimilation.
"There would be means of accessing their traditional lands for traditional activities such as hunting and fishing."
Timmins would offer better job prospects, health care, education and policing, Pope stressed. But the vast majority of Kashechewan members have returned, even after repeated evacuations, to the only home they've ever known.
Louttit says no one has ever done a detailed study of related costs. "We have some estimates, but nothing accurate."
Ottawa moved the people against their will to the low-lying land in 1957. The original name Keeshechewan - Cree for "where the water flows fast" - became Kashechewan after it was misspelled by federal officials.
The reserve has been evacuated three times since 2004. Ottawa has spent millions of dollars to remove residents twice for severe spring flooding and once amid a tainted-water crisis. This, as the community of about 1,700 people grapples with squalid housing, domestic violence, addiction and a recent spate of 21 reported youth suicide attempts, including by a nine-year-old.
Former Indian Affairs minister Andy Scott pledged to relocate 50 new houses a year for 10 years. The Conservatives later backpedalled, saying the Liberals never formally set aside required funding.
Caught in the middle are men, women and children who've been repeatedly uprooted from cramped, decrepit living conditions.
Pope painted a grim picture of life on the reserve, especially for young people.
"Community-based services in Kashechewan are incomplete, inconsistent and inadequate," he found after reviewing historical records, band finances and the results of door-to-door surveys.
Regular health care simply isn't available. A round-trip flight to the closest major centre, Timmins, costs about $600.
"Dental care is rarely available," Pope said. "Domestic violence is a major issue that remains unaddressed. Dietary and healthy lifestyle issues have not improved, and the high cost of fruit and vegetables makes their resolution unlikely."
Pope described chronic under-funding that has only worsened as yearly contributions from Ottawa fail to keep pace with population growth. He noted that financial reports are late - something the new chief Jonathan Solomon promised to fix - and said much of Kashechewan's crippling $5-million debt is because of ongoing housing shortages.
Kashechewan should not be penalized for trying "to provide adequate housing for the band members," Pope said.
"Elementary and secondary school students are sharing one facility and attendance and curriculum are reduced accordingly. Elementary students have neither gym classes nor recess.
"Class hours for secondary students of 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. have cut attendance in half."
Louttit says the people of Kashechewan are doing their best to prepare if unpredictable spring weather brings another disastrous wave of water.
"The community has had a very rough two or three years."