Photo credit: Village of Candle Lake website

The Prince Albert Grand Council is calling on the province to make trapline cabins eligible for coverage under the Provincial Disaster Assistance Program.

The PAGC says since the start of the wildfire season, fires have scorched registered cabins used by First Nations in Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation, Lac La Ronge Indian Band, and Montreal Lake Cree Nation. PAGC Grand Chief Brian Hardlotte says “The province requires us to register these cabins and follow strict rules. But when they burn down, we’re told we don’t qualify for help. That’s a double standard, and it needs to end.”

Under the Provincial Disaster Assistance Program, seasonal-use or secondary structures, including most trapline cabins, are ineligible for coverage. However, even though cabins are excluded from PDAP, trappers are still required to meet provincial cleanup standards for burned materials, including metal and treated wood. According to PAGC leaders, cleanup costs can run into the thousands for each site.

PAGC is now urging the provincial government to expand PDAP eligibility to include trapper cabins that are registered through the province’s TRU trappers’ program.

In other wildfire-related news, the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency says there are currently 49 active wildfires burning in the province, 14 of which are not contained.

Eleven communities remain under an evacuation order. These include the Lac La Plonge, La Plonge Reserve, Beauval, Jans Bay, Patuanak/English River First Nation, Montreal Lake Cree Nation, Pinehouse, Canoe Lake Cree First Nation/Canoe Narrows, Île-à-la-Crosse, Cole Bay and Little Amyot Lake.

There are also four active declarations of local emergency due to wildfire in Lac La Plonge, Beauval, Little Amyot Lake and Cole Bay.

The SPSA also reminds the public that a fire ban is still in place due to the extreme fire risk. The ban encompasses the area north of the provincial forest boundary up to the Churchill River