The mayor of Niagara Falls has issued an apology to the Kashechewan First Nation following comments made during a recent city council meeting regarding evacuees from the Northern Ontario community. Kashechewan residents have been living in hotels in Niagara Falls since January due to failures in the water infrastructure of their community near James Bay.

At a June 23 city council meeting, retired Niagara Falls chief administrative officer Ken Todd presented a report on the city’s homelessness strategy. During his presentation, Todd criticized the federal and provincial governments for their handling of First Nations evacuations and expressed concern about the impact of more than 1,100 evacuees on the city’s tourism sector. He described the placement of evacuees as unfair both to the individuals themselves and to Niagara Falls, which markets itself as the “Vegas of the North.”

Todd also highlighted challenges faced by Kashechewan children, noting that some had to play recess in a parking lot next to a casino. Additional remarks by council members suggested that the presence of evacuees on city streets could negatively affect the tourism industry.

In response to the controversy, Niagara Falls Mayor Jim Diodati met last week with Kashechewan Chief Hosea Wesley. The two appeared together at a rally at City Hall, where the Kashechewan First Nation flag was raised before a crowd of about 100 people, including evacuees and supporters. In a joint statement, Diodati acknowledged that comments made during the council meeting had been hurtful to the Kashechewan community and the wider Indigenous population, though he said they were misinterpreted and that no disrespect was intended.

“I apologize and I take responsibility for that, as I stand by the positive intentions of the report,” Diodati said, emphasizing the need for greater support beyond the municipal level. He noted that displaced individuals and families require not only accommodations but also safe places to gather and build community while living in temporary housing.

Chief Wesley echoed this view, calling the current reliance on hotels across Ontario as emergency accommodation “not a sustainable long-term solution.” He stressed that responsibility lies with federal and provincial governments to invest in safe infrastructure, adequate housing, and emergency planning to prevent repeated evacuations of First Nations communities.

Kashechewan, situated along the Albany River, has faced annual spring flooding and evacuations for more than 20 years. This year’s evacuation stemmed from contaminated drinking water caused by the failure of local water infrastructure.

Indigenous Services Canada holds ultimate responsibility for the costs and management of First Nations evacuations, contracting services to provincial agencies and emergency management firms that coordinate logistics such as transportation, accommodations, security, and access to health and education services.

The city’s report on homelessness calls for increased action from federal and provincial governments to support evacuees and address the broader challenges facing Indigenous communities displaced by emergencies.