Many residents affected by last summer’s wildfires are struggling to return to normality because of a lack of recovery funds from relevant authorities.
This year the British Columbia government gave $600,000 to the Red Cross, which along with private donations came to about $2 million that the non-profit could spend on assistance with wildfire recovery in the Regional District of Bulkley-Nechako (RDBN).
That amount pales in comparison to what B.C. gave the Red Cross last year: $162 million, including about $62 million in donations.
Of that sum, $119 million was spent and committed as of June 22, 2018, according to a Red Cross fact sheet.
What’s more, the Red Cross is working to provide $7 million of the unspent funds from 2017 to the BC Fire Chief’s Association and the Office of the Fire Commissioner for training and equipment purchases, as explained by RDBN Board Chairman Bill Miller in a letter to the province and Red Cross.
“The RDBN Board is extremely concerned that the unspent 2017 wildfire relief funds are accessible by the BC Fire Chiefs Association, but are not being made available to address the critically underfunded recovery needs of RDBN residents,” he wrote.
“[The funding situation is] disappointing because it’s like you’re making these people second class citizens, as if they don’t deserve the same treatment as they got last year,” Miller told Lakes District News.
Last year’s assistance broke down into $600 per family for every two weeks they were evacuated from their homes, monetary support for helping people return home after evacuating, funding for replacing damaged refrigerators and freezers and support for small businesses.
While Miller acknowledges that more people were affected by the fires in 2017 and more homes were lost, there was a reduced level of support this year.
“For instance, last year there were people reimbursed to a certain degree for purchasing freezers and fridges. But that didn’t happen this year. Things like that were provided last year that aren’t being provided this year,” he said.
In response to the concern over the large difference in recovery funding between 2017 and 2018, Kimberley Nemrava, Canadian Red Cross Vice President for B.C. and Yukon explained that it comes down to donors’ intentions.
“When we’re given funding for specific disasters we’re careful to honour the intent of the donors and use the money in the way the donors intended,” she said.
Specific breakdowns on how much has been spent on the needs of people in the Burns Lake area are not known, as spending isn’t tracked by regional district, Red Cross Communications Advisor Andrew Hopkins said.
Jordan Turner, Communications Manager for Mike Farnworth, B.C. Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General, said in addressing the funding discrepancy that “the Province is now working with the Canadian Red Cross to determine appropriate supports for communities to recover from the 2018 wildfire season.”
In the meantime, residents in fire-affected areas of Bulkley-Nechako, especially the Southside are left with limited resources to cope with home and infrastructure damage, loss of winter food and firewood supplies, and other costs due to lack of insurance.
