Image: Office of MP Brad Vis / MP Brad Vis, representing Mission, Agassiz, Harrison Hot Springs and Lytton in his federal riding, says a mandate from the BC government that requires archaeology assessments on each individual property before it can be rebuilt has been costly to the residents of Lytton who have been struggling more than two years after a wildfire ravaged nearly the entire town. He says there is federal financial assistance available, it's simply a matter of the province stepping forward to make things happen.

By Mike Vanden Bosch

MP Brad Vis

MP Vis faults B.C. govt. for requiring archaeology assessments in Lytton before rebuilding can occur

Oct 31, 2023 | 9:15 AM

MISSION — MP Brad Vis says a mandate from the BC government that requires archaeology assessments on each individual property before it can be rebuilt has been costly to the residents of Lytton who have been struggling more than two years after a wildfire ravaged nearly the entire town.

According to an emailed statement to constituents, Vis, who represents Mission, Agassiz, Harrison Hot Springs and Lytton in his federal riding, says the mandatory assessment on each property has been the source of significant financial and emotional stress.

“I stand firmly with the residents of Lytton and their frustration at the lack of progress on recovery,” Vis said in a statement. “Lyttonites have been without a home for over two years. This rebuild is not a vanity project, it is a necessity. The Province needs to take a hard look at their archaeological processes and requirements versus the real-life impact they’re having on residents.”

It’s not a question of federal funding, Vis said, saying the government of Canada is ready to commit significant funding to the process of rebuilding.

“The federal government has promises on the books for more funding through PacifiCan to Lytton businesses, through Infrastructure Canada for Lytton public infrastructure, as well as the remainder of the $5 billion Disaster Financial Assistance Arrangements to all of British Columbia,” Vis said. “These promises are nothing without follow through and I continue to urge the government to make good on their funding commitments.”

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A rally was held last week to protest the utter lack of building permits that have been issued since a fire gutted most of the town in 2021.

“It will be 840 days since the fire and they don’t want to wait any more, or be told to be patient or assume there are priorities more important than their homes,” Lytton Mayor Denise O’Connor said in an email to Fraser Valley Today earlier this month in October.

While other parts of the province have already started rebuilding following this summer’s fires, O’Connor questions why Lytton isn’t allowed to do the same.

“They question why other places in the province have started cleaning up already after this summers fires,” O’Connor said. “They are afraid others will be rebuilt before Lytton!”

After being sworn in as mayor in the fall of 2022, O’Connor says she had reason to believe things would start to improve. However, that has not come to fruition.

“Since being sworn in as mayor almost a year ago, I believe we have moved some things along faster, but there is so much that is out of our control, or decided upon previous to us getting elected,” O’Connor said in her email. “We are making progress, but we are moving two steps forward, one step back.”

BC United MLA Todd Stone, representing Kamloops-North Thompson, posted on X/Twitter about the ongoing issue with Lytton.

Said Stone: “839 days ago Lytton burned to the ground. Not one resident of the Village has rebuilt or moved home. Can’t believe the NDP voted down a motion moved by Fraser-Nicola MLA [Jackie Tegart] to request that the Auditor General to conduct a full audit into this. Heartless.”

On X/Twitter, O’Connor vented her frustration over her impression that Lytton has been forgotten.

“We’ve been waiting for over two years!” she said online. “We need our voices heard! Lytton residents want their town back! We want to go home!”

O’Connor touched on the sensitive issue of archaeology and how she believes it has overtaken the larger issue of residents being allowed to come home.

“We’re concerned about archaeology,” she wrote on X/Twitter. “We know archaeology is important, but some residents feel their ancestors would want them home by now. We don’t understand our MDLs (management direction letters) or why they are so confidential. We feel like Lytton has become an archaeology project, not a rebuild project. There have been archaeology monitors for the debris cleanup, for the foundation removals, for the soil removal and for the backfilling. Now we’re hearing we may need monitors when we rebuild and it could cost us thousands of dollars more.”

The Canadian Press reported that the Insurance Bureau of Canada estimated insured losses of the destruction in Lytton at $102 million.

The 2021 fire destroyed 90 per cent of the town’s buildings and scorched an additional 837 square kilometres of land, according to the Canadian Press.

by Mike Vanden Bosch

MP Vis faults B.C. govt. for requiring archaeology assessments in Lytton before rebuilding can occur

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