Northwest Territories Premier Caroline Cochrane says her jurisdiction鈥檚 infrastructure is similar to that of 鈥渢hird-world countries鈥� compared to communities in southern Canada.
Cochrane said she鈥檚 been 鈥渢ired for a long time鈥� asking the federal government for more infrastructure commitments, but now she鈥檚 鈥渁ngry,鈥� amid calls for Ottawa to extend more help to the wildfire-ravaged region.
鈥淲e've been asking for the same infrastructure, roads, communications, that people in Canada take for granted for decades,鈥� she said, adding she鈥檚 been 鈥渟creaming for infrastructure for decades,鈥� especially for the 22 communities with no permanent roads in or out.
鈥淥ur (fire) season is not done,鈥� Cochrane also said. 鈥淏ut if this happens next year, is it my fault? Whose fault is it, when we can't get people out, because we don't have basic infrastructure that every Canadian takes for granted?鈥�
Cochrane made the comments Friday accompanied by Alberta Premier Danielle Smith on a tour of Calgary鈥檚 reception centre for wildfire evacuees.
鈥淚 need every single Canadian to say it is not okay, that the territories live like third-world countries, that we do not have the same services that people in the South have,鈥� Cochrane said. 鈥淪o please, everyone raise your voice, because I need the federal government to hear we are Canadians, and we deserve the same.鈥�
The comments come amid Prime Minister Justin Trudeau鈥檚 visit to Kelowna, B.C. on Friday, where he was repeatedly asked by reporters to name specific ways the federal government plans to help regions impacted by this summer鈥檚 wildfires.
But Trudeau did not announce any new spending commitments, instead pointing to the Disaster Financial Assistance Arrangements program, which sees the federal government offer aid to provincial and territorial governments when the recovery costs of a natural disaster are beyond what they could be expected to handle on their own.
鈥淭hat's part of the reflections we have to have going forward on how we can make sure that we have even more resilient communities,鈥� Trudeau said in response to a question about Cochrane鈥檚 asks for more infrastructure. 鈥淲hereas this time the fires in Yellowknife were able to be prevented from getting too close to the city, next time we might not be so lucky, and we're going to need to learn from these near misses.鈥�
Trudeau also said Yellowknife鈥檚 evacuation in this case was made possible by 鈥渃ommunity members and individuals and frontline support workers,鈥� rather than by effective infrastructure.
He added he鈥檚 told Cochrane the federal government has 鈥渃ontinued to demonstrate in (its) constant engagement with territorial counterparts鈥� that it 鈥渨ill be there鈥� to support them.
With files from CTVNews.ca Senior Digital Parliamentary Reporter Rachel Aiello
