Flooding assistance needed from provincial, federal governments

The James Smith Cree Nation has received help from the provincial and federal governments to temporarily address the issue of flooding which has become a growing health crisis. Funding will be used for roads, houses and schools. Flooding and washed out roads caused the First Nation to issue an evacuation order Aug. 3 for nine homes and 123 band members. Evacuees stayed in hotels in Melfort. At least nine homes in the community had drinking water contaminated when flood water leaked into their cisterns and in mid-August, a child had to be air-lifted from the community after becoming sick from drinking contaminated water. Last month the Provincial Disaster Assistance Program met with leadership to review the rising crisis. The provincial program provided $110,000 to repair damage from previous years of flooding. The money falls well short of what is needed to repair the damage that the band’s independent engineer suggested would cost a minimum of $3.2 million to meet safety standards.