• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

Federal Adviser Recommends Relocating Kashechewan Reserve

Posted on: Thursday, 9 November 2006, 15:00 CST

By TERRY PEDWELL

OTTAWA (CP) - An adviser to the federal government is recommending that a troubled aboriginal community in Northern Ontario be moved hundreds of kilometres south.

Alan Pope's report calls on the government to move the Kashechewan reserve to within the city limits of Timmins, 450 kilometres from its current location on the shores of James Bay.

The move would improve the lives of the residents of the community, particularly young people, Pope said in releasing his report Thursday.

"Benefits include regional hospital facilities and doctors, a full range of community health programs, proper policing and fire protection, removal of the threat of flooding and ice jams," he said.

It would also give Kashechewan residents access to high schools and post-secondary education, as well as economic opportunities and employment.

The Kashechewan reserve made headlines in October 2005 after an E. coli outbreak in the water supply forced the evacuation of hundreds of residents.

In June, the federal Conservative government sparked outrage in the reserve when it announced it could not move the community a short distance away to higher ground.

Kashechewan leaders wouldn't react to the report's specific recommendations Thursday, saying they needed to speak with residents of the community first.

"I'm still reading the report, digesting it," said Kashechewan Chief Jonathan Solomon.

"I think this is something my people will also need a time to have public meetings and get their input and comments on the report."

There were many questions left unanswered in the report, including how or when the reserve would be moved, and how much the upheaval would cost.

As well, there are concerns that the residents would lose their way of life and face other problems.

"Can people freely move around as they are accustomed to in terms of hunting, trapping, what with private land ownership all around?" asked Mushkegowuk Council Grand Chief Stan Louttit.

"What about now that they're in the boundaries within that municipality, is there a taxation issue?"

The evacuation of Kashechewan's nearly 1,100 residents to several Ontario cities last year had the federal and Ontario governments scrambling for solutions to dirty drinking water issues.

A year later, Kashechewan and other aboriginal communities in Ontario continue to struggle with poorly designed water plants or overly modern systems that are considered unaffordable to staff or maintain.

Pope spent months asking residents their opinions on how to deal with the community's chronic problems, in many cases going door-to-door with questionnaires in hand.

He stressed that his recommendations would not strip away the land rights of Kashechewan residents.

"I made it clear to the people, in documentation and in discussions, that they would not have to give up their use of traditional lands.

"The reserve on the Albany River would continue to be their reserve and that there would be means of accessing their traditional lands for traditional activities such as hunting and fishing."

Source: Canadian Press

More News in this Category