Cat Lake to get $10M for homes
Funds for new housing, to demolish or repair others on remote reserve
The Canadian government is promising more than $10 million to build new homes, repair others and put portables in place in a remote Indigenous community in northern Ontario where substandard mouldinfested housing has sparked a health crisis, according to a framework agreement signed on Thursday.
The interim deal, signed in Thunder Bay by Indigenous Services Minister Seamus O’Reagan and local First Nation leaders, will be followed by a memorandum of understanding that is to be signed in two weeks in Cat Lake First Nation itself, the two sides said. The reserve is about 400 km by air northwest of Thunder Bay.
According to the framework deal, Ottawa will provide $3.5 million for 15 new homes, $1.5 million to demolish dilapidated structures and prepare the lots, and $2.1 million to repair and renovate 21 houses.
“The homes that will be demolished and replaced by new units have been determined to be priorities … as homes that cannot be repaired for less than the cost of a new house,” the framework states.
In addition, the government will put up another $3 million to ensure delivery and installa- tion of 10 portable houses for permanent use by Cat Lake First Nation but which can be used for transitional housing.
A copy of the interim agreement obtained by the Canadian Press did not contain time frames, but a temporary warehouse, however, will be built as a “first priority.”
“We all feel a sense of urgency about this,” O’Regan said in a telephone interview from Thunder Bay. “My dearest hope is that we get as much over the winter road as we can in the limited weeks that we have ahead of us.”
The minister said he was hoping to see at least a “sliver of progress” by the time he visits Cat Lake in two weeks.
Remote Cat Lake is an Ojibwa community of about 450 people.
One major issue is ensuring the existing ice road — the community’s only land access — is capable of supporting the loads required to get portables and building supplies to Cat Lake. The agreement calls for the road to be kept usable for as long as possible this season.
Among those at Thursday’s meeting was Cat Lake Chief Matthew Keewaykapow, who called it a “groundbreaking” day.
“I’m pleased to see we are moving forward in a positive direction,” Keewaykapow said.
The Cat Lake band declared an emergency in mid-January, saying terrible housing had led to severe lung and skin ailments, especially affecting about 100 children. The framework agreement, signed on behalf of Cat Lake by the Windigo Tribal Council, specifically recognizes the declaration.