Indigenous and Northern Affairs Committee on Nov. 21st, 2017

[Jean-Philippe Tizi]

Yes. Emergency preparedness and community preparedness go with some mitigation measures and sometimes—you talked of infrastructure—it's as easy as establishing evacuation plans. We know many communities have yet to be better prepared—let's put it this way—to evacuate. That's the kind of initiative we work on now with first nations communities in Manitoba. It makes a huge difference to have emergency plans and the protocol in place, the most vulnerable identified, and the protocol to assist those most vulnerable. All of this makes a huge difference in evacuation, and it's exactly the purpose of such an initiative like we have in Manitoba, supported by INAC.

Then obviously there is a wide range of issues: access to water, access to health services, a question of housing. That's a broader thing here, but disaster preparedness or sometimes the absence of disaster preparedness has a huge impact on the evacuation, and then there's the aftermath and the mental effects of the evacuation.

We know that every dollar spent on preparedness is around four dollars saved on the response, so that's again a big line for us in investing collectively in disaster prep. Back to your point then, that includes infrastructure sometimes, it's a huge difference.

[Sheila Malcolmson, NDP, Nanaimo—Ladysmith, BC]

Some of the stories in B.C. this summer around evacuation were terrible. People were obviously frightened. In some cases, police said if people didn't evacuate, they would take their children. There were obvious flashbacks to very recent residential schools where government authority figures took children away.

Are there any reflections on the programs that go well, where you have indigenous leadership intimately involved in planning that evacuation in advance? Can you give us some examples of what that looks like, how it could be carried out in a more compassionate way? That would be at a very alarming time.

[Bill Mintram]

We recognize that when working with indigenous communities, we're working within understanding and being very sensitive to what sovereignty and nation-to-nation relationship mean. We're striving to work with the leadership in a collaborative way. Through whichever functions the Red Cross comes in to provide any types of services or supports, our goal is for that to be done in a way, where it's from being a part of community serving community, that there's a relationship and there's an ability to work collaboratively. If we weren't doing that, we would come up to many barriers that result.

As you have said, fairly negative stories have come about as a result of some of the actions that were taken and we can all learn from that to try to understand the best process, the best means of engagement, and how we can ensure that, from an indigenous lens and perspective, that aspect of relationship and collaboration is there and is set as a priority in that service delivery. From our perspective, it's continued learning and being very respectful of the process. I can't speak to the government or other avenues of what resulted in those circumstances as it wasn't directly Red Cross-related.

[The Chair, Liberal, MaryAnn Mihychuk]

That concludes our time. I want to thank you for presenting to us. We'll have a few more of these hearings. I encourage you to submit your brief, if you have one, or any information you think might be valuable to us. Meegwetch.

We'll suspend for a couple of minutes for the next panel to come in.

[The Chair, Liberal, MaryAnn Mihychuk]

Let's get going.

[Gary Anandasangaree, Liberal, Scarborough—Rouge Park, ON]

Madam Chair, I'm wondering if this may be the right time to request that we have a committee meeting on November 28 for maybe an hour to dispense of issues.

[The Chair, Liberal, MaryAnn Mihychuk]

Can I ask for clarification? Is this for committee business?

[Gary Anandasangaree, Liberal, Scarborough—Rouge Park, ON]

Yes, I propose a planning meeting for committee business.

[The Chair, Liberal, MaryAnn Mihychuk]

Do you propose a planning meeting of the subcommittee or the whole committee?

[Gary Anandasangaree, Liberal, Scarborough—Rouge Park, ON]

It could be the whole committee. I think we're already meeting for an hour, so we may as well have the whole committee there.

[The Chair, Liberal, MaryAnn Mihychuk]

I'm told that we have a panel on November 28, but that there would be an hour available for committee business. MP Anandasangaree is asking that we allocate that hour for committee business.

Yes, Cathy.

[Cathy McLeod, Conservative, Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo, BC]

Madam Chair, we just have one panel, but with how many witnesses?

[A voice]

[Inaudible—Editor]

[The Chair, Liberal, MaryAnn Mihychuk]

It seems that we have concurrence.

Welcome to our delegation. You probably heard that each presenter gets 10 minutes to present. There's only one presentation and then we'll go into a round of questions from the MPs at the table.

It's an honour to have you here, Grand Chief Daniels. You can start with your presentation.

[Grand Chief Jerry Daniels, Grand Chief, Southern Chiefs' Organization Inc.]

Thank you.

I want to start off by recognizing we are on Algonquin unceded territory and also to thank our Creator for allowing us to be here today.

I want to thank all the members of the standing committee here, and my relatives: thank you for allowing me some time and sharing some time with me.

I'm going to stick to my notes, because it will keep the flow going. The relationship with Canada and indigenous peoples is one of the top priorities identified by the Prime Minister in his mandate letters to the minister. We are here today because we believe in reconciliation for the communities I represent. The rebuilding of our communities is at the heart of the reconciliation process, and effective management of emergencies and disasters in our communities is an important aspect of that.

Climate change and modern forest fire management practices are increasing the frequency of out of control fires near first nations communities. There are also changes in the scale and average duration of forest fires, particularly in the most remote areas. In 2017 alone, nearly 7,000 first nations citizens needed to be evacuated as a result of forest fires.

Last August, a forest fire started burning south of the Poplar River First Nation, a remote community on the east side of Lake Winnipeg, Manitoba, located 400 kilometres from Winnipeg and only accessible by boat or air. This community of 1,100 to 1,200 individuals has the shortest runway in Manitoba. The Poplar River First Nation declared a state of local emergency and evacuated on August 10, 2017.

In regard to the response and mitigation of last August's forest fire near the community, Chief Vera Mitchell stated, “It was quite a challenge to get everybody out of the community expediently due to our airstrip and airport. It took five days to get 700 people out, with about 50 flights of small aircraft which had about nine passengers, which is why the haste is needed to relocate and build an airstrip. Our airstrip is a clearing in the middle of the reserve that has limited capacity to handle aircraft. Only nine passengers can land on the runway. It's too short and is not to standard. There's no life flights for members and the freight planes are limited. There has been talk about an airstrip for 20 years and finally the province has allocated approval for the design stage, but of course it's pending a financial cost-sharing agreement with the feds. The jurisdiction of responsibility is what we always get caught in as first nations. If the last incident had been an emergency—a quick evacuation situation—it would have been a total disaster.”

Last August, the forest fires were also burning northwest of the Wasagamack First Nation area of Island Lake, rapidly increasing in size and emitting high levels of smoke, which impacted three communities.

Wasagamack First Nation, a community of 1,160 inhabitants, was heavily impacted by smoke, creating a high level of risk to the community due to fire. The fire was threatening 26 structures, the band office, and a school, which led to a declared state of emergency on August 29, 2017 and a request for evacuation. Garden Hill First Nation, a community of 2,700 individuals, was heavily impacted by the smoke and required partial community evacuation of priority health individuals; a state of local emergency was declared on August 29, 2017. Meanwhile, St. Theresa Point, a community of 2,800 people, was heavily impacted by smoke. The band requested partial evacuation for priority health individuals on August 29, 2017. Power outages were experienced in three communities due to the high density of smoke in the air, which affected power lines.

First nations emergency management is problematic, and that's a well-documented reality. There is a consensus among the main authorities concerned that first nations are not well protected to face emergencies and disasters in order to limit the harm and cost to their communities. There is also a consensus around the need for a level of protection against disaster that is equitable and comparable to what is provided to other Manitobans.

The budget of the INAC emergency management program is not sufficient, and support has focused on response and recovery activities while the preparedness of the mitigation phase of the emergency management process is neglected. The mitigation phase is particularly neglected, and most first nations communities do not have the proper infrastructure to face different types of disasters.

The preparedness phase involves all the activities that ensure that when a disaster strikes, emergency managers will be able to provide the best possible response with first nation control. In the preparedness phase, emergency managers develop plans of action to manage and counter the risks, and take action to build necessary capacities required to implement the plans. Common preparedness measures include proper maintenance and training, emergency services, the development and exercise of emergency population warning methods, preparing shelters and evacuation plans, stockpiling inventory, maintaining disaster supplies and equipment, making communication plans, and establishing a chain of command.

First nations are in the best position to prepare for disasters and best know their own respective physical and social environment and their people. With the proper resources and the partnership agreements, first nations would be most effective to take charge of the disaster preparedness phase by themselves.

The response phase involves the mobilization of necessary emergency services and the first responders in the disaster area. It includes the first wave of core emergency services. That is why the response phase is better in the hands of the local community. They are there on site to immediately apply the emergency procedures and to start the deployment of operations. Effective response is critical to save lives and prevent further damage caused by the disaster of emergency situations. It's during the response phase of emergency management that the preparedness plans are put into action. In SCO communities, the response activities may include a damage assessment; the deployment of flood equipment, such as Tiger Dams; firefighting; and the shelter of victims.

First nations and their elected band council know their people. We know best who they can rely on for the execution of a response plan. We also know best what the sheltering needs are and what the possibilities are around citizens' medication, kids' schooling, business needs. These are just a few of the considerations that first nations band elected officials are in a better position to elevate than any other organization.

How am I for time? I have three minutes. Let me get into the last part here. I'll just skip over. I need to address the Red Cross really quickly.

In December 2013, AANDC announced that the government was transferring responsibility for long-term first nation evacuees from the Manitoba Association of Native Firefighters to the Canadian Red Cross. Since the Red Cross took over three years ago, first nations emergencies have represented 95% of activities in Manitoba. While we recognize and appreciate the good work of the Red Cross and the dedication of its staff and volunteers, we also see that the agency has been suffering some difficulties. This is mostly due to the fact that they are strangers to the community and the physical environment when operating on reserve.

The Red Cross is not always able to cover 24 hours due to the volunteer human-resource base. Some situations require immediate actions where communities can't wait for the Red Cross. For remote communities, the fact that the Red Cross is not on site can seriously compromise prompt and safe evacuations. The Red Cross is not always familiar with the safety plans for emergency procedures in the communities where they are mandated to provide services. Management does not always understand the first-hand needs of the communities. They do not know the communities. They are discovering and learning them as they go.

The Red Cross sometimes cannot easily identify where to find a supply for the disaster response. The agency is designed to take on so many big emergencies at once. Staff have limited knowledge and understanding of the local geography, the people, the situation, and the evacuation plans prepared by the communities. The agency doesn't always have the knowledge of the community and what its plans are. The staff get strangled by the local politics in the community. There's confusion of who is in charge in the community. There are also issues with the sheltering of our communities.

I'm going to leave it there. I think I'm going to let one of you two cover the rest because my time is up.

[The Chair, Liberal, MaryAnn Mihychuk]

You have one minute.

[Grand Chief Jerry Daniels]

I'm going to leave it there. I'll let Jolene cover the rest. I don't think I can get through all of it.

[The Chair, Liberal, MaryAnn Mihychuk]

All right. We'll reset the clock. We have a bit of time. We want to ensure that everyone has a round of questions.

Go ahead.

[Jolene Mercer, Director of Operations, Southern Chiefs' Organization Inc.]

Okay.

The Southern Chiefs' Organization's vision for emergency management is that southern first nations in Manitoba would like to develop and be in control of their own emergency command centre, with proper operational needs-based funding. Our southern first nations would like the funding of this emergency command centre to be under the disaster management program of Public Safety, not INAC. This command centre would have the mandate of coordinating the action plan to address all current deficiencies when it comes to dealing with emergencies in first nations communities. This institution would enable us to get the flood and fire issues under control. It would be aligned with one of the main recommendations from the Auditor General of Canada on emergency preparedness.

In conclusion, we're here presenting to the indigenous affairs standing committee today because, as Grand Chief Daniels said, we believe in the reconciliation process. We recognize that there has been a history of wrongdoing in our relationship with Canada. There have been harms caused to our nations by the assimilation policy. They remain today, but times have changed. Legal and political contexts have evolved a lot. Because of that, we believe it's in the best economic and financial interests of the federal government to work with us to face the changing legal and international political contexts, including in regard to emergency management.

We lived under our own survival, policing, and legal systems. Now we're looking to rebuild our communities and to build those systems up again. For us, the rebuilding of our communities and our social and physical infrastructure is at the core of the reconciliation process. Again, emergency management is part of that process. In our discussions with Canada, we wish it to be understood that for whatever it is—education, health, housing, or emergency management—southern first nations in Manitoba require funding assistance based on needs and to control, manage, and design our own service and programming. We will continue to work on the reconciliation effort with Canada and to take part in reconciliation discussions and activities.

To this end, the main message our chiefs asked us to deliver to this committee today is this: one, provide us with the proper funding level to rebuild the physical and social infrastructures needed in our communities, including for emergency management; and two, give us the control to do so.

In conclusion, we really were the first Red Cross of this country when we welcomed newcomers to this country and we accommodated them. The proof is in the international Selkirk treaty.

[The Chair, Liberal, MaryAnn Mihychuk]

That's a good point.

We'll start the questioning with MP Sahid.

[Salma Zahid, Liberal, Scarborough Centre, ON]

Thank you, Chair.

Thanks to our witnesses for coming today and for giving their important input on this study.

Grand Chief Daniels, you have always identified supporting indigenous youth as an important priority for your work, whether it means restoring families, developing school curricula, or providing mentorship programs for urban youth. Can you speak to the ways in which young people may be more valuable during times of emergency?

[Grand Chief Jerry Daniels]

Well, there are several ways. Look at what happened in the Island Lake region. Many of the young people were helping to do the evacuation from Wasagamack. Because the fire approached the community so fast, there was no way any organization could have helped. The community had to do the evacuation itself. They ended up jumping on boats in the middle of the evening. Many of the young people were involved in making sure that all the children were part of that, and that no one was getting lost. They worked together to ensure that they were safe.

It was really quick. They didn't have any time. It was in the middle of the night. They all jumped on boats and they moved everybody out of the community. A lot of the young people were a part of that.

[Salma Zahid, Liberal, Scarborough Centre, ON]

Do you prepare them for that? Is there some training provided to the youth? How do you make sure they are well prepared?

[Grand Chief Jerry Daniels]

I think it's very limited in the communities because there's not a whole lot of resources there. It was more that they just knew the situation.

The communities know. They keep an eye on what's happening around them in the community. They're hunters. They're all out on the land. A lot of our young people are out on the land. They monitor these things. Once the fire approached, the young people were definitely a part of that. They were taking direction from the older ones. They were working together.

[Salma Zahid, Liberal, Scarborough Centre, ON]

What can we do better so that we make sure that the youth are well prepared to step up in this situation?