Ontario wildfire evacuees stuck in Regina through the weekend

A few dozen northern Ontario wildfire evacuees have been able to go home, but the nearly 300 who remain in Regina are going to be staying for a little while longer.

Two flights with roughly 35 evacuees onboard took off from the Queen City enroute towards the Pikangikum First Nation on Wednesday, but no flights were scheduled to take off on Thursday.

“We understand that Ontario has a significant number of people out of multiple communities, and to try and manage movement from Saskatchewan back there is creating some inconsistency in the flight schedules,” explained Duane McKay, vice-president of Saskatchewan’s Public Safety Agency.

He said the organizers in Regina have met to tell the community’s leadership that they’re comfortable with how many evacuees are here.

“Evacuees have settled in really well, our resources to support them for a few more days is sufficient, and so we’re letting (the First Nation) know that we do not see us as a priority, that they can deal with the other issues,” McKay said.

He added the province of Saskatchewan is planning to keep the evacuees at least through the weekend, and organizers are continuing to plan activities for them.

Though there were some issues on the weekend, McKay said things are quite stable with the evacuees at the University of Regina now.

The bills

It isn’t free to feed, house and charter flights for a few hundred people for a couple of weeks, but the province of Saskatchewan won’t have to foot the bill.

McKay noted the province is keeping track, and once everything is said and done, the cost will be borne by Indigenous Services Canada.