Cree family of 20 left without housing after fire, with some living in shacks during winter [Video]

A family that lost its home to a fire in July has been living without permanent housing on a Cree Nation in Northern Saskatchewan ever since.

Elders Maryanne and Gordon Ballantyne lived for 30 years in the same home in Pelican Narrows, about 415 kilometres northeast of Saskatoon. Their granddaughter Mikayla Renas said 18 other family members were staying with them before the fire, because of a lack of housing within Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation.

After the home burned down, the family members were left camping on their own property. The elderly couple, both in their 70s, stayed in an uninsulated trailer with their youngest grandchildren and great grandchildren. Other family members slept in tents or shacks.

They didn’t have running water or heat, except for wood burning stoves they also cooked on.

WATCH | A fire left this Cree family of 20 without housing: A Northern Saskatchewan family has …