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Lake St. Martin residents have been displaced since 2011 after the province deliberately flooded the reserve to spare Winnipeg from a historically high spring runoff.Fred Lum/The Globe and Mail

Indigenous Affairs Minister Carolyn Bennett says allegations of "inappropriate behaviour" by officials in her department who are resettling the evacuees of a flooded Manitoba reserve should be handled first by the department itself.

Adrian Sinclair, the chief of Lake St. Martin First Nation, has written to Ms. Bennett to say that actions taken by Indigenous Affairs bureaucrats while the Conservatives were in power have created an unjust situation for his people.

Lake St. Martin, he wrote, is "being pressured to enter into unconscionable agreements which are contrary to our best interests" as construction of a new multimillion-dollar community to house the evacuees continues. Mr. Sinclair urged Ms. Bennett to order an investigation and to meet with him and his council to "discuss this whole scandalous situation."

But the minister says Indigenous Affairs bureaucrats must look into the allegations before she gets involved.

"My department has a process in place to ensure allegations and complaints are examined properly and that appropriate action is taken if necessary," Ms. Bennett said in an e-mail on Tuesday. "Individuals with allegations and/or complaints are encouraged to use the department's allegations and complaints process."

The minister is also refusing Mr. Sinclair's request that she call a halt to meetings between her staff and the bureaucrats to discuss the reserve's relocation until the investigation has been completed. Ms Bennett said she relies "on departmental officials to provide me with advice on files as they have valuable information and history on the many issues of the department."

Lake St. Martin was deliberately flooded in May, 2011, by the Manitoba government to spare Winnipeg from the ravages of a historically high spring runoff, forcing an evacuation of the reserve's 1,600 residents. The land was supersaturated and declared uninhabitable, and the evacuees, many of whom are still living in Winnipeg hotels, have been unable to return home.

Construction of a new community of Lake St. Martin, which is expected to cost $250-million, began last spring on a site purchased by the Manitoba government. It is adjacent to the old reserve and it, too, is saturated with water. First Nation members describe it as a swamp.

In the months after the evacuation, Mr. Sinclair and his council chose lands that are high and dry as their preferred place for a new community.

But the province and the federal government, which is responsible for the location of reserves, did not accept that site. And, after two years of failed negotiations, the First Nation council passed a resolution agreeing to relocate to property purchased by Manitoba.

In her e-mail, Ms. Bennett said thousands of Manitoba evacuees have been without a home for far too long.

"I am resolved to ensure that all First Nation evacuees displaced by 2011 flooding are able to return to safe and suitable accommodations," she said. "To that end, my department has been engaging and will continue to engage with the leadership of concerned communities, including Lake St. Martin."

Charlie Angus, the NDP critic for indigenous affairs, said it is important to remember that the people of Lake St. Martin have had their lives disrupted since 2011 and to ensure that their resettlement is done properly.

"I think it's reasonable for the new government to do some due diligence here," said Mr. Angus. "It's better to be safe than sorry. If there's a problem with this site, if there's a problem with the deal, let's find out now before we spend hundreds of millions of dollars moving this community to a place that they didn't want to be settled."

Kevin Hart, the regional chief for Manitoba for the Assembly of First Nations, said his top priority is to get the evacuees home.

"We have elders who are passing away that can't be buried back home. We have instances of violence occurring because of them being in the city," said Mr. Hart. And "it is very concerning and alarming for me to hear about the people who are starting to commit suicide because of the displacement and the loss of hope."

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