First Nations renew federal call for emergency services upgrades

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This article was published 04/04/2023 (931 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Manitoba First Nations leaders are calling on the federal government to improve firefighting and emergency services in northern and remote communities in the wake of another fatal blaze.

A 25-year-old woman died April 2 in a house fire on Tataskweyak Cree Nation, just days after the First Nation (some 700 kilometres north of Winnipeg) purchased a used fire truck in response to a Feb. 11 apartment blaze.

Ten families who lived in the eight-unit building are temporarily staying in hotels, and a three-year-old boy who suffered serious injuries is still hospitalized in Edmonton, Chief Taralee Beardy said Tuesday.

“Right now, everybody’s devastated. They’re in shock, disbelief,” Beardy said of the April 2 death, adding more federal funding is needed for housing, land development, and emergency response in the northern community.

“We do have many communities like mine that are lacking fire safety equipment or lacking a fire truck.”

Ottawa hasn’t prioritized improving emergency services on remote and northern First Nations but that needs to change, said Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak Grand Chief Garrison Settee.

Most remote communities “are in dire need” of equipment and adequate response systems, and are most vulnerable in the face of fires or other emergencies that require urgent medical attention, he said.

Some communities are fly-in or winter ice road only access, and when the weather is bad, medical flights can’t take off, Settee added.

“Whenever there’s a fire, whenever there’s an emergency, burn victims, to be able to get them out is so problematic. And it’s painful for… families to be experiencing something of that magnitude.”

On Tuesday, the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs raised concerns about ongoing nursing shortages on remote reserves, after God’s Lake First Nation declared a state of emergency over the lack of local health-care services.

AMC Grand Chief Cathy Merrick also echoed concerns about emergency services in remote communities, saying the federal government needs to improve nurse compensation and tackle burnout in the medical system.

Too many Indigenous people are suffering from missed diagnoses and dying prematurely, she said.

“We should not be begging (Ottawa), because they have a fiduciary responsibility through treaties for our people,” she said. “The mentality of the government has to change in terms of how they work with First Nations people.”

A representative of Indigenous Services Canada didn’t respond to a request for comment Tuesday.

katie.may@winnipegfreepress.com