The first joint application ever submitted by kʷikʷəƛ̓əm (Kwikwetlem) First Nation and the City of Coquitlam to seek money to raise the dike along the Fraser and Coquitlam rivers proved a success.
Today, Aug. 15, senior government and municipal leaders announced nearly $20 million to lift the dike around IR1, a 6.5-acre parcel within Coquitlam that’s next to Metro Vancouver’s ƛ̓éxətəm Regional Park, formerly known as Colony Farm.
One-third of Kwikwetlem members call IR1, or slakəyánc, home.
Kwikwetlem Coun. John Peters, who is in charge of emergency management at IR1 and IR2, within Port Coquitlam, told the crowd that “while historical grievances remain, this is a step toward true reconciliation” to safeguard the community whose lands have flooded more than 20 times over the past century.
Besides housing and office buildings on IR1, the non-standard dike has also put the Nation’s cemetery at risk, as it’s believed there are 100 bodies at the site near the Sheep Paddocks Trail.
