Friday, October 28, 2005

A long time coming

The good news is that all parties involved have agreed to a plan to rebuild Kashechewan:
Last night's deal allows for the construction of 50 new homes to be built in Kashechewan in 2006 and 50 more annually for the next 10 years, and money will be made available immediately for renovations to at least 60 houses. There will also be an increase in family services, counselling, family violence and suicide-prevention services and for federal facilities to house those who have been moved from the community.
It's definitely a huge plus for the people of Kashechewan. But lest this be seen as a due response to an immediate emergency, the precise problem has been known to the federal government for nearly a century:
Chief Friday said that the federal government had been urged to build the community on higher ground during construction in 1912 and the community urged the same thing in 1957 when the current houses were built, again on flood-prone land. Flooding from James Bay has forced people to leave the community in the past and has caused significant damage to the local houses.
If anything, Phil Fontaine's response to the agreement was too generous: while it may appear "wonderful" to have one agreement worked out, there appear to be far more first nations still in need of similar attention. And they shouldn't all have to wait to make the headlines individually in order to get their concerns dealt with.

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