So long…..farewell, and we hope you enjoyed your stay.
It was my pleasure to meet with some of the roughly 130 residents of Atiwapiskat First Nation the other day as they prepared to leave the student residence at the University of Waterloo for the three-hour flight home to their James Bay community.
Having been evacuated from their homes because of the threat of flooding, they had spent a week at the university…..and were excited at the prospect of finally returning home. On the day I visited with them, their scheduled departure was cancelled at the last-minute because of unfavourable weather conditions at the airport up there.
It was touching to see so many children playing with their mothers, touching to hear how well they had been treated by university officials along with members of the Red Cross, and touching to hear how appreciative they were.
Who knows? Perhaps some of them will return to live in our area one day and will share fond memories of the week they were helped by a caring community.