N.W.T. residents welcome PM's visit to wildfire-ravaged hamlet, but also want him to follow through

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau got an up-close look at the burnt-out remains of homes and vehicles Wednesday as he toured parts of the Northwest Territories ravaged by a record wildfire season.  

Trudeau's tour began with a visit to fire-stricken Enterprise, N.W.T., about 40 kilometres south of Hay River. A fast-moving wildfire in August tore through the hamlet of about 120, destroying nearly all of the community's structures.

Trudeau, along with local politicians, walked up residential driveways in the community to see the burned-out remains of homes and melted vehicles.

Chaal Cadieux is a foreman in Enterprise, and he's lived in the town since he was seven years old.

Now raising his own family, Cadieux spoke with the prime minister one-on-one as the two walked through what remains of his burned property.

"This is a big deal," said Cadieux of Trudeau's visit. 

"When you're speaking with somebody, especially somebody who has an influence like the prime minister, it gives you some sort of confidence that you're being heard or you're being listened to, and you're being recognized."

Recalling the past few years of wildfires and floods in the area, Cadieux said the aftermath has been "traumatic," calling on the government to better support disaster relief efforts.

About 20 people have returned to the community following wildfire evacuation, but many are staying elsewhere in the territory and other parts of Canada. Cadieux's family is renting a place in Hay River. 

The territory saw nearly 70 per cent of its population displaced during the fire season, including a three-week evacuation order that forced around 20,000 people to flee Yellowknife.

There are still 95 fires ongoing throughout the Northwest Territories as of Wednesday, with over 4 million hectares affected this year.

People in Hay River and the nearby Kátł'odeeche First Nation were forced to leave because of fire in May and again in August. Houses and the band office were damaged in Kátł'odeeche.

It was the later fire, fuelled by raging winds, that tore through Enterprise. Officials said 80 per cent of structures in the community were destroyed.

A few families who no longer have homes are staying in recreational vehicles parked outside the hamlet's gas station as they wait for information on whether they will get a temporary house or can start clearing debris off their property.

They recounted stories of fleeing the wall of smoke that quickly moved in on their community and the devastation they felt when they were able to return, finding the blackened remains of the lives they had built.

Enterprise mayor Mike St Amour said the prime minister thanked him for his resilience, but he hopes Trudeau's visit will encourage the government to help streamline the town's rebuilding process.

"I hope it's sooner rather than later because winter's coming," said St Amour.

The mayor said he feels like his community's concerns are "finally" being heard. He's hopeful that sharing stories of life before the fires with Prime Minister Trudeau will encourage the government to support the town's efforts to rebuild.

"Walking through, telling him the names of people who lived there, and the children ... I think that really affected him," said St Amour. 

"He heard us, and now all he has to do is follow through."

Amy Mercredi, 80-year-old resident and grandmother, recently returned to Enterprise and said she cried when she saw the reality that the home she'd lived in for decades was gone. She recalled having to flee with her two young grandsons and learning once they had arrived in northern Alberta that their home burned.

Mercredi said one grandson asked about his Lego, his most prized possession that had been left behind. The grandmother held back tears as she kept driving, she said.

Mercredi said she came back to make sure her grandsons could continue school in nearby Hay River but they don't have a permanent place to stay.

Many people who visit their burned homes say hotel rooms are not a long-term solution. The local hotel was also destroyed by the fire so most are staying in Hay River, where accommodations are scant.

Blair Porter, a senior administrative officer with Enterprise, said they want to make sure that people can return to the town. They are trying to find solutions for those who lost their homes.

"One of the things we don't want to have happen is that people just get fed up, throw their hands up in the air and say they are not coming back," Porter said.

But, he said, they will need co-operation from other levels of government to get it done.

Later, in Hay River, Trudeau met with the town's fire chief, Travis Wright, and Mayor Kandis Jameson.

Wright showed Trudeau a series of maps depicting the growth of fires that threatened the community over the summer.

Trudeau said he knows how it feels to face multiple crises.

"[Former U.S. president Donald] Trump, the pandemic, the war in Ukraine, to India, to Israel now — it's like, OK, we are in a time right now where all of us are learning how to respond."