Members of the Indigenous community and supporters will host a solidarity walk in downtown Niagara Falls on Friday and wind their way to city hall to protest how Indigenous people evacuated from Kashechewan First Nation were portrayed at a recent city council meeting.
Organizers of the event are also demanding that Niagara Falls Mayor Jim Diodati issue a formal apology at the next city council meeting.
The controversy erupted after Ken Todd, former chief administrative officer for the City of Niagara Falls, told Niagara Falls city council on June 23 that some residents may have the mistaken impression that evacuees from Kashechewan staying at hotels in the tourism district are experiencing homelessness. Todd was tasked by council last fall with spearheading a new action plan on dealing with the unhoused in the city.
While presenting the report, Todd noted about 1,100 evacuees from Kashechewan have been staying at hotels in the city since a state of emergency was declared in the northern community in January when its aging water infrastructure failed and its nursing station was flooded with sewage.