Fire forces Puvirnituq, Que., to declare state of emergency as water shortage continues
Firefighting effort hampered by lack of water, state of emergency gives village extra powers
As people in Puvirnituq, Que., continue to struggle with a worsening water shortage, a fire has prompted the small village in Nunavik to declare a state of emergency.
The fire, which began Saturday at around 3 p.m., destroyed a house in the village of 2,100 people.
There were no injuries, according to a statement from Lucy Qalingo, Puvirnituq's mayor. She said the fire was extinguished at around midnight with blizzard conditions, strong winds and a limited water supply hampering the firefighting efforts.
The village council declared a state of emergency on Saturday evening.
Access to water has been limited since a pipe that connects the pump station to the treatment plant froze in mid-March. That has forced the village to drive farther out of town to truck in water and have it manually chlorinated, slowing delivery of water.
Difficult weather conditions, including slushy roads, have exacerbated the crisis.
In recent days, water shortages at the local health centre — the Inuulitsivik Health Centre — have led to some patients being flown south for care, and Nunavik's chief public health officer has warned illnesses like gastroenteritis (stomach flu) could spread rapidly as the water shortage impacts access to sanitation.
According to Article 19 of the province's Act respecting civil protection to promote disaster resilience, a municipality can declare a state of emergency in its territory for up to 10 days "when a disaster occurs or is imminent there, if the normal operating rules do not make it possible to take the immediate actions required to protect human life, health or integrity and if, for that purpose, the local municipality considers that it must resort to the extraordinary powers."
The state of emergency grants several powers to Puvirnituq's mayor, including:
- Ordering evacuations when deemed necessary.
- Requiring the services of any person capable of assisting the personnel deployed.
- Requisitioning property and materials deemed necessary for rescue services.
- More spending powers to help address the crisis.
- Renewing the state of emergency every 10 days as long the conditions justify it.
"I feel for our community," Qalingo wrote on Facebook late Saturday night, referring to the fire. "I don't know what else to say."
In a brief statement, a spokesperson for the Inuulitsivik Health Centre said a total of 18 people from either the hospital or a care facility for seniors have been flown south.
"Please note that these relocations are temporary and that our priority is clear: bringing everyone back home as soon as it's safe and feasible," said spokesperson Felicia Potvin.
'Please don't fail us'
Earlier that day, hours before the fire started, the mayor had also taken to Facebook to say that "both governments should stop ignoring the high needs of everything in Nunavik" and issued an urgent call for help, writing: "Please don't fail us."
"If we don't see changes from the result of the crisis we are going through, we are definitely nothing to them. What we are going through right now happens in third world countries," Qalingo wrote in the Facebook post.
"We don't have to beg for water. We are also Canadians. Forgotten Canadians."
In a statement Sunday afternoon, Mandy Gull-Masty, Canada's newly sworn-in Indigenous services minister, said "my heart goes out to the community members in Puvirnituq."
"I have reached out to my provincial counterpart and community leadership to make sure they have what they need and reiterate my support," she said.
"At all levels of government, we have to work together to use our tools and resources to make sure communities have access to essential services. We will get through this together."
In an interview with CBC News, Ian Lafrenière — the provincial minister responsible for relations with the First Nations and the Inuit — said the Quebec government had been waiting to get an update on the situation from local authorities in Nunavik for a few weeks.
He said Quebec received a request to help with the water crisis on Wednesday.
This weekend, Lafrenière said, the province delivered about 60,000 litres of water to Puvirnituq.
When asked about Qalingo's Facebook posts, he said he empathized with the mayor given how the situation has unraveled in her community.
"Imagine, you've been lacking for the past weeks, you got a fire that just took place and the weather has been horrible," the minister said.
He said the priority now is to do what is necessary to stabilize the situation. Afterwards, he said, the province will meet with local governments to determine what should be done to ensure a situation like this never happens again.
'There's no plan'
Dr. Marie-Faye Galarneau, who's worked as a family doctor in the region for five years, resigned two weeks ago due to the deteriorating health-care conditions there.
On Sunday, she said she's angered by the situation playing out in Puvirnituq, describing it as "beyond comprehension."
"People are deprived of water and their toilets are full for two weeks to one month now, and there's no plan, except sending bottles of water," Galarneau said.
In a statement to Radio-Canada, the Nunavik Regional Board of Health and Social Services (NRBHSS) said the state of emergency has no "direct additional impact" on its operations.
"The NRBHSS is fully mobilized for civil security co-ordination efforts and is providing support to the Inuulitsivik Health Centre," the statement reads.
Based on reporting by Radio-Canada's Félix Lebel, CBC's Samuel Wat, with files from Shuyee Lee and Rowan Kennedy
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