The band council chief in Flat Bay says the condition of the road joining her community to the Trans Canada is so bad that an ambulance was unable to carry an ailing resident to hospital.

Chief Janine Myles says the situation unfolded earlier this week and the patient’s family had to take her to hospital instead.

Myles says Route 403, which was heavily damaged in washouts back in 2022, is peppered with potholes, dips and broken pavement. She says Flat Bay is the location of one of the Atlantic region’s biggest pow wows each summer, and she’s concerned about how people will be able to access the town.

She says even the school bus has trouble navigating the broken pavement, leaving kids sick and woozy from all the swerving necessary to avoid the hazards.

Myles says they’ve been asking for repairs for years but they feel like they’ve been left behind. “It’s our right to have a safe place to be able to drive back and forth on.”