Neskantaga First Nation calls for more federal support after community evacuation cut short
CBC
Chief Gary Quisses says Neskantaga First Nation's evacuation lasted 46 days — but he wasn't ready to bring his community members home.
The remote Ojibway First Nation has been under a state of emergency since April 13, prompted by flooding and a strong smell of fuel at its nursing station, the only access point for medical services in the community.
That week, more than 130 evacuees and their pets were flown roughly 450 kilometres to Thunder Bay, Ont., in order to have their health-care needs met. In all, more than 175 evacuees ended up staying in the northwestern Ontario city for well over a month.
Quisses said evacuees returned to Neskantaga last weekend, after Indigenous Services Canada (ISC) sent him a letter saying the federal government would no longer support its evacuation after June 4.
According to Quisses, Neskantaga was not told why its evacuation was no longer being supported.
Meanwhile, three other communities in the region are under evacuation due to nearby wildfires, sending hundreds of people to southern Ontario from Wabaseemoong Independent Nations, Deer Lake First Nation and Webequie First Nation.
While a temporary nursing station has been set up at a home in Neskantaga, Quisses said there's still a lack of equipment there to meet people's needs.
"It's very challenging at the moment," Quisses told CBC News in an interview Thursday.
Now, he's calling for support from the federal government to build a brand new, permanent nursing station in Neskantaga to replace the existing health centre, which has been boarded up.
CBC News has reached out to ISC about Neskantaga's evacuation and calls for a new nursing station to be built, and is awaiting a response.
Last month, a spokesperson for ISC told CBC News that remediation work at the nursing station began April 22.
"Initial investigation indicates that the flood and fuel smell were likely a result of a failed sump pump and used fuel spill kit that was being stored in the basement," said ISC spokesperson Jacinthe Goulet.
Fewer than 400 people live in Neskantaga. Its nursing station was built in 1994, and Quisses said it's been in poor condition for years.
"It's pretty old already and it's never been renovated. It's always having issues, finally triggered where we have to call for [a state of] emergency," Quisses said.
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