First Nations leaders warn MLAs about growing impact of climate change
CBC
An Indigenous leader has told provincial MLAs that climate change is putting new pressure on her people, squeezing the already-small reserve land imposed on them by the federal government.
Chief Sacha LaBillois of Ugpi'ganjig First Nation, also known as Eel River Bar, says the low-lying reserve will be increasingly vulnerable to extreme weather caused by warming temperatures.
"Our lands were taken from us by the government, and now they're being taken away, out of anyone's control, due in large part to climate change, human activity and influence," she told the New Brunswick Legislature's committee on climate change.
"Our communities are running out of space and they're surrounded by private lands which makes it almost impossible to grow out from our current boundaries."
She called on the province to make it easier for First Nations to acquire new land.
LaBillois was representing Mi'gmawe'l Tplu'taqnn Inc., an umbrella group of nine Mi'kmaw communities in the province, at hearings set up to gather input into a new five-year provincial climate change plan.
She and John Vicaire of the Gespe'gewaq Mi'gmaq Resource Council, a non-profit research organization based at the First Nation, told MLAs that almost all of their reserve lies just six metres or less above sea level.
The community built a $10 million seawall to protect infrastructure after a 2010 storm surge, but some homes remain exposed and the wall will need to be enlarged and reinforced, she said.
The band has also lifted some homes and has demolished and relocated others.
"These are great initiatives that are preventative, but unfortunately it's just a temporary fix. It's not a long-term solution," LaBillois said.
Vicaire said 50 buildings on the reserve will be vulnerable to extreme weather by 2050, according to projections.
The reserve's location, directly south of the town of Dalhousie with the Eel River and the Bay of Chaleur to its south and east, leaves it little room for relocation or to accommodate economic development, the chief said.
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