No room for evacuees

The city of North Bay made it clear Monday night that it sympathizes with the plight of First Nation communities along the James Bay Coast, but it says it cannot take in flood evacuees.

“We don’t have the facilities, we don’t have the staff,” said Deputy Mayor Peter Chirico.

“We’ve mentioned to the provincial and federal government year after year that it is unfair to place this burden on the municipalities.”

Instead North Bay city council put forth a motion urging the federal and provincial government to find a permanent solution to this ongoing crisis. When asked why smaller communities such as Hearst and Cochrane are able to take it flood victims, Chirico said, “Ours are booked and pre booked and we can’t guarantee how long we can hold them, because we don’t long how long that emergency is going to take place.”

While the city does have an emergency plans, residents here would face a similar situation if a natural disaster happened here.

“Then we would be asking other communities to take them in. I mean we do not have those facilities. For very short stays we could probably accommodate it,” says Chirico.