Fort Simpson business centre seeks federal wildfire relief fund after territorial rejection

FORT SIMPSON — A business advocacy centre in Fort Simpson, N.W.T., is asking the federal government to establish a flexible relief fund for businesses hurt by this past summer's wildfires.

The Dehcho Business Development Centre, a non-profit, has asked for $1 million that it could distribute to all affected businesses in the region, with different levels of funding depending on the size of the business and on the impact.

The centre issued the same proposal to the territorial government, who rejected it, pointing to existing relief funding models that exist to help businesses on a case-by-case basis.

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Sean Whelly, manager of the Dehcho Business Development Centre, said all businesses were impacted by the evacuation, but some were hurt worse than others.

Howard Hardisty, who owns construction business E&R Ventures, was on the worst end.

The wildfire threatening the community hit his lot directly, destroying all his equipment, other than a drill, and a home that he was building.

The fire also caused an explosion inside a sea can Hardisty was using to store equipment, destroying everything.

Hardisty estimates he lost about $125,000 worth of goods. He had insurance but said his application was denied because of a discrepancy.

“I was in no mood to fight with anybody. So I just let that go. And I just started cleaning up myself,” he said.

Hardisty cleared out his savings and started buying all the gear he needed to get his business running again.

He said people offered to start GoFundMe pages for him, which he ultimately refused.

Whelly said people like Hardisty need these funds. Hardisty agreed it would be helpful.

Whelly said in 2023, the year Yellowknife, among other communities, had to evacuate, the government provided funding to communities impacted by wildfires. That funding largely focused on overhead losses, which he said was helpful. This time around, though, the business centre wants a program that's more flexible, he said.

"Imagine a sole proprietor who builds decks in the summertime. Fences and decks, maybe you don't have a lot of operating costs," he said.

"You operate with your pickup truck, but you lose your summer's revenue when you have to evacuate your community. And that's the money that you use to live on for the rest of the year. If all the program covered was expenses, well, you may get very little and you're still at a loss."

The funding from 2023 came from both the N.W.T. Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment (ITI) and the Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency (CanNor).

Melvin Leonard, an assistant director with ITI, wrote in an email that there were additional funding supports offered in 2023 because of the "increased scale of evacuations that year."

This allowed for contributions of up to $5,000 to offset operational costs from the wildfires.

Leonard said the department met with the Dehcho Business Development Centre to discuss the proposal but ultimately rejected the request.

Leonard said the N.W.T. government provides emergency relief funding for business recovery through its entrepreneur support stream and will consider applications "that can demonstrate impact to a business as a result of wildfire on a case-by-case basis."

Leonard said they recommend businesses in the Dehcho region reach out to the ITI regional office if they're seeking emergency relief funding as a result of wildfires.

Dennis Nelner is the client support economic development officer for the Dehcho Business Development Centre.

Nelner said this funding the territory offers doesn't recognize the magnitude of the impact.

He said the current funding ITI offers isn't advertised as funding relief.

Hardisty said he didn't even know it was an option.

Nelner said the Dehcho Business Development Centre is in touch with all the businesses and can better distribute the funds.

"Our economy itself is not in very good shape, right? And when we are announcing big things like [the] Mackenzie Valley Highway ... Our business community needs some support, we need a leg up," he said.

Nelner said they are still reaching out to CanNor for funding.

A spokesperson for CanNor wrote in an email that the agency does not have any programs specific to businesses impacted by wildfire evacuations, but can "prioritize" businesses coming out of a wildfire with existing programs.

"The support must be project based and not recovery focused," the spokesperson wrote.

The spokesperson said that in 2023 the agency provided $1 million to the N.W.T. government for business relief funds.

With files from CBC News