WINNIPEG - Aboriginal leaders say Ottawa is ruining the lives of people by not moving fast enough to help permanently move a chronically flooded reserve in Manitoba to higher ground.
Band councillor Mervin Sinclair said the Lake St. Martin reserve -- home to about 600 people several hundred kilometres northwest of Winnipeg -- has been flooded virtually every year for the last 50 years.
"The federal government is just playing games with the lives of First Nation people," Sinclair said. "I wish they would come to the table and settle this once and for all."
This year has been one of the worst on record. Residents were forced from their homes in May and still haven't been able to return.
People's livelihoods and quality of life have been destroyed by the chronic flooding, Sinclair said. People can no longer depend on hunting or fishing. Some perennially flooded homes are infested with mould.
Most people in the community are ready to start afresh in a new location, he said. But they can't do anything without both levels of government and, so far, they have only met with Manitoba officials.
"Every year, people are getting very stressed," Sinclair said. "It's all they ever talk about -- why is this happening to us? Why can't we return to our community? Nothing has been done to improve lives in the community."
The federal government issued a joint news release with the province in late May, promising to fund a study to "immediately determine whether the present location of Lake St. Martin First Nation is viable in the long term and to assess the long-term flood mitigation alternatives for communities on Lake St. Martin."
Aboriginal and Northern Affairs Minister John Duncan has also appointed a special representative to investigate how a 50-year-old provincial dam near the reserve might be affecting flooding.
"We've all been working together on this," said department spokesman Jeff Solmundson. "No one wants to see a First Nation deal with chronic flooding."
The Lake St. Martin reserve is particularly vulnerable because flood waters that make their way through the swollen Assiniboine River and into Lake Manitoba eventually end up gushing into Lake St. Martin through the Fairford Dam.
Manitoba Aboriginal Affairs Minister Eric Robinson said the province is doing all it can to help the beleaguered community. But while the province has taken the lead, Robinson said Ottawa is responsible for First Nation people and can't ignore the problem any longer.
"They have that responsibility and they have to take that role seriously," Robinson said. "They're also a treaty partner and they can't simply slough that responsibility off for the First Nations people of Lake St. Martin to another level of government."
The province is looking at moving Lake St. Martin residents to temporary homes near the reserve in the next few months, but that is not a permanent solution, Robinson said.
Manitoba is eyeing 2,000 hectares of private land near the reserve as a new home on higher ground, but he said the province can't do anything without the co-operation of the federal government.
