QUESTION PERIOD — Indigenous Services
First Nations Infrastructure
September 19, 2023
My question is for the Government Representative in the Senate.
The Little Red River Cree Nation is one of the largest First Nations in Alberta, with a population of over 6,700. It is also one of the most isolated, deep in the northern boreal forest of Alberta. In early May, one of the nation’s three constituent communities, Fox Lake, was caught up in a huge Paskwa wildfire, which started that first week in May and is still burning across almost 100,000 hectares.
Fox Lake has no roads in and out. Without support from the province or the federal government, the band was able, over the course of three desperate days, to evacuate 3,600 people by water, using river barges and canoes. For those too weak or ill to travel by water, two small planes were used to medevac people using Fox Lake’s tiny airstrip, flying people out eight at a time. The good news is that everyone got out safely. The devastating news is that hundreds of homes were destroyed, and 1,700 people now have nowhere to live.
The Little Red River Cree leadership has been scrambling to find supports for their community, but it is difficult to get building equipment and supplies to Fox Lake. Can you tell us what emergency reconstruction aid the community can expect from the federal government to deal with this immediate crisis?
Thank you for the question and thank you for underlining the devastation to this community, and many others, that the wildfires of this summer did and continue to effect.
I certainly will take the question to the attention of the relevant minister. This chamber can rest assured that the government has done and will continue to do everything it can to help communities faced with these challenges.
According to Little Red River chief, Chief Conroy Sewepagaham, their federal allocation is $1.1 million per year — a number that hasn’t gone up since 1997. The community of Fox Lake, with almost 3,800 people, has no doctor; they have four nurses and two paramedics. The community also needs federal support to build a bridge and to expand its airstrip. After this immediate crisis is over, will your government commit to meeting with the Little Red River Cree Nation and to addressing the long-term health and infrastructure needs of Fox Lake?
Thank you for your question. Indeed, the Government of Canada, mindful and sensitive to the challenges of communities and the impact of climate change across this country, and indeed in the North and on Indigenous communities, has launched Canada’s first-ever National Adaptation Strategy to help all communities across this country adapt and develop the infrastructure to be more resilient in the face of these climate‑change-induced challenges.
In that regard, since 2015 the government has invested over $10 billion in disaster relief and climate change adaptation, and will continue to work with each and every community as their needs dictate.
