The search is on to find a better way of dealing with catastrophic floods on First Nations reserves.
This morning in Ottawa, Senators from the Standing Committee for Aboriginal Peoples heard from two experts in Aboriginal banking.
Harry Willmot of the Royal Bank says when communities are evacuated it affects the willingness of outside organizations to invest in them.
He believes housing and job creation are reliant on outside dollars flowing into a reserve so when disasters disrupt the band’s overall state it’s bad for its economy,.
He says he has seen first-hand how difficult it is for some communities to deal with constant flooding:
“I remember watching an iceberg, twenty feet above my head, floating down the river. That community shouldn’t be there. In the summertime… it’s where all the flies come in. That community should not be there. They should be relocated or moved somewhere more appropriate.”
At the same time he stresses that’s not his call to make.
Meantime Senators also wanted to know why only 50 loans have been given out by the First Nations Market Housing program.
The program was launched to much fanfare a few years ago but has come under recent criticism for being too sluggish.
One chief also told the Committee in a previous session he felt not enough bands were qualifying for it.
BMO Financial director Jason Cameron suspects not enough bands may be aware of it:
“The long and the short of it perhaps is that it is a bit of a longer process. But it may not be leveraged as much as it should. Perhaps not as many of the communities are aware of the program.”