Kashechewan relocation given provincial support

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The recent flooding that has forced the evacuation of most of the residents of Kashechewan First Nation may also serve to speed up the process to relocate the community.

News reports state that Ontario's Aboriginal Affairs Minister David Ramsay supports a plan to move the reserve to higher ground 30 km further up the Albany River from its current location. Because it is located on a floodplain, a dike has been built around Kashechewan to keep the water at bay but it is no match for the rising waters that come when the ice breaks up each spring.

Relocation would mean residents of Kashechewan would no longer have to endure the flooding that takes place each spring. Members of the community have been forced to evacuate to escape rising waters for three years in a row.

While the province may support the relocation plans, the federal government must also be on board before anything can happen. The new site selected is on provincial Crown land and would have to be transferred to the federal government and designated as reserve land.

The problems faced by the people of Kashechewan gained national attention late last year when E.coli contamination of the community's drinking water led to evacuation of more than half of its residents. At that time the federal government, under the leadership of Paul Martin and the Liberal party, put forward a plan to relocate the community within a decade.

Kashechewan wasn't the only community on the Albany River affected by rising waters this spring. About 300 people were also evacuated from Fort Albany First Nation.