Enterprise, N.W.T., residents without home insurance won't get financial help to rebuild

Residents in Enterprise, N.W.T., whose homes weren't insured when they burned in last summer's wildfires have been told they won't get financial help to rebuild.

Nearly the entire community was destroyed by wildfire last summer.

Longtime Enterprise resident Winnie Cadieux, a former mayor who ran a restaurant and art gallery, is one of those residents who lost their home.

Cadieux said the final word came from the territory's Municipal and Community Affairs department at a meeting last Tuesday, where residents were told "face to face" that the federal government "had decided there was no help."

Cadieux said home insurance in Enterprise can be incredibly expensive. She said one quote she got for her own home was over $7,000 a year.

"That's where the help should come, for those who have been devastated," Cadieux said.

There is no full-time fire department in the community, only volunteers, and Hay River is a 30 to 40-minute drive away.

Cadieux remembers when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and other politicians visited the community last summer after the fires.

Winnie Cadieux is the former mayor of Enterprise and a business owner. (Emily Blake/CBC)

"They said, 'we're here to help you. We see the devastation.'"

"We needed reassurance that what the prime minister told us when he was shaking our hands and looking at the devastation, that they were there to help us, that it was more than just words."

'The door seems to be no longer open'

N.W.T. MP Michael McLeod said the territorial government has not informed him about what its plan is for Enterprise residents without insurance.

"My understanding is the federal government is going to be waiting to see what they're proposing," McLeod said.

At one point, there was a proposal on the table that the territorial government purchase temporary units for residents while they look for a permanent solution.

McLeod said the federal Disaster Financial Assistance Arrangements fund is emergency funding, and that for new permanent homes "you have to go through other avenues."

"We have to explore what funding is available," he said. "It's a completely different process altogether."

Member of Parliament Michael McLeod in Nahanni Butte on Sept. 30, 2023. (Jenna Dulewich/CBC)

McLeod said the cleanup in Enterprise was paid for by the federal government, along with an offer for temporary shelters for up to two years.

"The government of the Northwest Territories has not come forward with any kind of solution," McLeod said.

"The door seems to be no longer open for discussion, and that's disappointing to hear."

43 uninsured properties 

Vince McKay, minister of municipal and community affairs, said his department has been looking at 43 uninsured properties in Enterprise, 19 of them residential.

McKay said he took on the file as soon as he became minister.

"I needed to know that we went down every avenue that we could," McKay said.

He said the territorial government has worked with several federal departments to look for money for residents who were uninsured.

Vince McKay, the N.W.T.'s minister of municipal and community affairs, said 19 homes in Enterprise weren't insured. (Julie Plourde/Radio-Canada)

"I'm hoping that we can still do more but at this time we've come to this roadblock," he said.

He said after looking at options, there was "nothing available for uninsured properties."

"It's a tough situation. I did bring it to the departments to see if we could find funds to assist, and considering the government's fiscal strategy that we're going through right now, the funds aren't available to uninsured properties."

Sandra McMaster, Enterprise's mayor, said it was difficult news to hear.

"There was a lot of disappointed people. A lot of sad people. But it also finalized it for them too," McMaster said.

She said many of those who lost their homes are seniors.

"When you're 80 years old, how do you decide what you want to do for yourself? You can't build a house."

Cadieux said some families have already made the difficult decision not to come back to Enterprise.

"We'd like to rebuild, We'd like to be back there. But I don't know if we can," Cadieux said.