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Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION

New homes will be set up in temporary village

By: Jenny Ford

Posted: 02/16/2012 1:00 AM | Comments: 0 (including replies)

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Kerri Irvin-Ross stands at the entrance of a show home on Wednesday. The homes are for displaced Lake St. Martin residents.

HEADINGLEY -- The bright, shiny 1,600-square-foot home is a far cry from the condemned, flood-damaged houses residents of Lake St. Martin were forced to flee nine months ago.

The Manitoba government showcased a model Wednesday of a new home for some Lake St. Martin First Nation flood evacuees when they relocate to a site near Gypsumville. The first families will move in at the beginning of March.

Housing and Community Development Minister Kerri Irvin-Ross said 43 families, or about 140 people, from the Interlake community have signed up to move into the temporary homes at a radar base.

So far, 13 of the homes have been moved to the interim village.

"We're saying to people 'This is totally voluntary. When you're ready, we're here. Let us know and we can support you in the move,' " said Kerri Irvin-Ross, minister of housing and community development, at a public tour of the three-bedroom show home.

On Friday, about 100 members of the First Nation had a private look at the model home set up at the McDiarmid Lumber outlet in Headingley. It's one of two model homes on display. The other is located at the site in Gypsumville.

The homes come partly furnished with appliances, table and chairs, beds and a couch and chair.

The homes vary from one to five bedrooms and the average cost is $160,000, which includes transportation to the interim village, said project manager Jacques Gauthier.

Lake St. Martin was ravaged by flood last spring, displacing more than 800 people in the community. Residents have been living with family or in hotel rooms in Winnipeg, as the community is still under an evacuation order.

The radar base in Gypsumville was renamed the temporary evacuation site after discussions between the government and Lake St. Martin chiefs and the community. The residents retain all their rights and privileges despite being off reserve.

Irvin-Ross stressed the First Nation's evacuees are not forced to move to the site, and she emphasized the evacuation site is only temporary.

The government is still taking applications for the homes, and Irvin-Ross added it's hard to say exactly how many residents will get a home. However, the government has set a cap for the site at $40 million. She said she hopes most residents wanting one of these temporary homes will be settled by the summer.

"This whole event has been so stressful for these families; it's hard for us to fathom what it would have been like," she said.

"I can't imagine what it would be like to be in a hotel room with children for a lengthy time... overwhelming, stressful. This is going to provide a good alternative for the people that choose it."

jennifer.ford@freepress.mb.ca

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition February 16, 2012 A2

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