Siksika Nation residents threaten legal action over flood rebuild
A group of frustrated Siksika Nation residents who set up a blockade 40 days ago to protest the actions of council and administration in the wake of the 2013 flood plan to pursue legal action later this week.
Ben Crow Chief is one of about 800 Siksika residents who lost his home two and a half years ago when flood waters ravaged Canada’s second-largest reserve and destroyed nearly 170 homes.
While millions in provincial funding and donated dollars came in after the flood —$80 million was provided by government — Crow Chief and other residents who are still living in temporary trailers claim the funds are being mismanaged.
A petition recently circulated demanding the Siksika Nation band council open their books and tell residents where flood money has been spent, and 40 days ago, a fed-up Crow Chief set up a teepee blockade to prevent construction of a new housing subdivision for flood evacuees.
Crow Chief said despite the petition and lengthy blockade protest — the longest in Siksika’s history — council and administration still haven’t provided the financial documents he wants, so the protesters have decided to shift tactics.
“It’s Day 40 and nothing has been resolved ... So we’re going the legal route,” Crow Chief said.
Crow Chief said he informed council and administration on Monday that if he isn’t given financial documents by Thursday, the matter will move to court.
“We have representation already,” Crow Chief said, noting lawyers have stepped forward to represent the protesters pro bono and demand the financial documents from the band.
In the meantime, Crow Chief said dozens of band members will continue to visit the teepee blockade, as they have for more than a month. “We’re going to keep the roadblock until all our demands are met,” he said.
But Siksika Coun. Marsha Wolf Collar said council and staff are“doingthe best we can” and have tried to be as transparent as possible.
“We’ve done our best to accommodate opening our books for them to look at where the money is being spent,” she said.
In addition to alleging that staff running the Siksika Nation’s flood rebuild are mismanaging the flood money, Crow Chief said residents are upset about the location of a new housing subdivision that’ s set to contain homes for flood evacuees currently living in temporary trailers.
Crow Chief said residents weren’t consulted about the location of the housing development and many don’t want to live there, and he’s demanding that flood evacuees have a say in where their homes will be built.
Wolf Collar said there are in fact some residents who want to move to that area and the teepee blockade is stopping the development from moving forward. “Those members that want to move in that area, he’s preventing them from moving in there because we can’t build their homes now,” she said.