Kashechewan First Nation has begun the process of evacuating vulnerable community members in what it called a precautionary move in the face of a high flooding risk.
Situated on the banks of the Albany River near the James Bay coast, the community is prone to flooding nearly every year during the spring ice break-up, with flood risk typically lasting from late April through the middle of May.
The Town of Kapuskasing has been identified to host the first evacuees from the community, expected to include 200 to 300 people, beginning on Monday.
More than half of Kashechewan’s 2,000 residents, however, plan to wait out the flooding season through the “On the Land” initiative developed by area First Nations with government support during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The program is intended to help avoid COVID-19 risks from evacuation to other communities, while allowing members to remain on their traditional territory and support activities like food harvesting, intergenerational knowledge sharing, and Indigenous language education.
The community cited indications from Ontario’s Ministry of Northern Development, Mines, Natural Resources and Forestry that flooding risk would be heightened this year.
“As a result of the colder than average winter, ice thicknesses are greater than normal which poses an increased risk for ice jams to occur locally,” the ministry stated. “As of April 19, snow depths to the south and west of Fort Albany and Kashechewan will affect the rivers flowing north.”
River surveillance conducted by a team of Kashechewan flooding knowledge keepers indicated five to six feet of thickness in ice at multiple locations, along with significant amounts of snow along the river.
Those factors led the First Nation to declare a state of emergency on April 13.
“I am very concerned of the risk assessment factors that led to a decision to evacuate the vulnerable population to the southern community,” said Chief Gaius Wesley. “However, it is necessary for the safety and well-being of the community. A joint risk assessment process suggests there is a high potential of flooding which could endanger the lives of the remaining community members who are not able to evacuate to the trapline [or] hunting grounds as per the [On the Land] Initiative.”
Leaders from the community are meeting regularly with regional, provincial, and federal counterparts through a Joint Command Table (JCT) to manage the response.
It’s the JCT that made the decision to begin precautionary evacuations, the First Nation said in a release.
The province has approached communities including Thunder Bay about the possibility of hosting flooding evacuees from Kashechewan, Attawapiskat, and Fort Albany in previous years.
It’s a request the city rejected in 2020, saying its resources were already stretched due to COVID-19.
The city has received no requests to host evacuees so far this year, a spokesperson said.
About 1,100 Kashechewan members have so far signed up to participate in the “on the land” initiative, the First Nation reported.
The federal government will provide transportation and financial support to aid those members in establishing camp on higher ground and conduct the traditional goose harvest during the time of flood risk.
The provincial and federal governments reached a relocation plan with Kashechewan in 2019, agreeing to eventually move the flood-threatened community to higher ground.
