Northwestern Ontario Municipal Association says no capacity to handle potential evacuees in region

The ability to host evacuees from remote northern communities just isn't in the cards this year for municipalities across northwestern Ontario.

"We want to make sure that this isn't a political decision, this is a capacity decision," said  Wendy Landry, the president of NOMA, who noted it comes down to safety for both evacuees, as well as host communities.

"We just don't have the capability of hosting evacuees in our communities that this time."

"There's just no capacity to host evacuees when we're on skeleton staff," she said, adding that in some areas, only one person is left working at the municipal office.

Hosting evacuees from remote communities is a lot of work, she said, noting that once hundreds of people arrive into a host community, while food and lodging and can be provided by a hotel, communities have to organize local transportation, recreation opportunities, and deal with health and safety concerns as well as emergency response.

"You're putting a group of people on a Hercules plane to bring them into a community that has many cases [of COVID-19] that have tested positive," she said, noting that many northern communities are locked down, with no cases of the virus.

She said ensuring physical distancing is being practiced by those who would come to host communities would be difficult as well.

NOMA has requested that the provincial and federal governments work together to develop evacuation plans for this year that would recognize municipal limitations.

One suggestion from the group, to open up more spaces for potential evacuees, is using military bases or portable housing, to be set up in provincial parks.