Evidence of meeting #25 for Indigenous and Northern Affairs in the 44th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was arctic.
A video is available from Parliament.
1:55 p.m.
President and Fire Chief, Canadian Association of Fire Chiefs
Absolutely. When I said that, I meant “high level” from the federal government, looking at the uniqueness in collaboration with the community leadership that's there, because it is very unique. Each community is unique in some manner.
I hope that helps. Thank you.
1:55 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Marc Garneau
Thank you, Mr. Ste-Marie.
We'll now go to Ms. Idlout.
Ms. Idlout, you have two and a half minutes.
1:55 p.m.
NDP
Lori Idlout NDP Nunavut, NU
[Member spoke in Inuktitut, interpreted as follows:]
Thank you, Mr. Chairperson. I had one more question, but my colleague already asked it.
Chief McKearney, I enjoyed your report. It's proactive. You've done a lot of work.
You said more people need to be aware of the things that you outlined in urban and Arctic communities. For instance, you said we have to work with indigenous leadership. We have to work with indigenous communities and the leadership. I'm very happy to hear that.
For those who are non-indigenous, how can you convince them and the government as well of the importance of networking with the aboriginal leadership and the communities, because they don't see that as a need. They come in and do their job, forgetting that they have other people living in that very area.
How can you work with non-indigenous leadership and managers to get into that attitude of working together with the indigenous community and the leadership?
1:55 p.m.
President and Fire Chief, Canadian Association of Fire Chiefs
I think it's through this committee. I think the power of this committee, with the caring nature that you put in this, can set that tone. As I said earlier, as an example in British Columbia, the B.C. Wildfire Service has never really looked to the indigenous communities and the people in those communities as being the ones they should go to, to deal with this case here, a wild-urban interface emergency. In fact, they've learned that lesson, and in fact they're encompassing them as part of that organization. I think that's a small window into that being recognized, and it should be replicated quite strongly across this country.
1:55 p.m.
NDP
Lori Idlout NDP Nunavut, NU
Just very briefly, I would love to hear your personal story of how you've come to this important view of having such great values and ensuring that more people work with first nations, Métis and Inuit, because it's not very often that we hear regular Canadians talking about the importance of working with indigenous leadership. I would love to hear how you came to that realization.
1:55 p.m.
President and Fire Chief, Canadian Association of Fire Chiefs
I've had the distinction of working for the City of Vancouver, with its value set as it relates to embracing reconciliation and including indigenous people in what we do. As the fire chief I've been involved with a number of opportunities there to listen and been proud to take part.
As I shift into my other roles, into Whistler, it's no different there. I don't know about the other provinces, but I can tell you, in B.C., there's the unfortunate situation that we're going through right now with the residential school issue. Over the last decade the growing respect for the indigenous population has made me a better leader, and I think it has made us.... I don't think; I know it has made us a stronger community. I think that's only going to grow.
My work with Tina and the Canadian Association of Fire Chiefs is replicated there as well.
Thank you.
2 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Marc Garneau
Thank you.
This brings our panel to an end.
I'd like to thank, on behalf of the committee, Fire Chief McKearney as well as Ms. Saryeddine. Your testimony was very important today. Obviously, the issue of fires, whether they're wildfires or whether they're fires in people's homes in remote communities, is an extremely important issue that this committee is seized with. We do appreciate your taking the time and answering our questions. This will be very useful input to our study. Thank you again.
With that, we will suspend very briefly in preparation for the next panel.
Thank you.
2 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Marc Garneau
We'll get back to business.
I'd like to first of all welcome our two witnesses for this next panel.
We have Professor Whitney Lackenbauer from Trent University, as well as Mr. Anthony Moore, First Nations' Emergency Services Society.
Just before we begin, I have a reminder for the two witnesses. You can speak in the language of your choice. In terms of listening, for you, Mr. Moore, on your device there is an ability to hear English, French or Inuktitut, depending on which you wish to hear this in.
For you, Mr. Lackenbauer, on your Zoom screen you'll see, at the bottom, that there is a small globe signifying interpretation, where you can choose which language you wish to hear, because all three languages will be spoken during this panel.
The way we proceed is that each witness begins with five minutes of opening remarks. I would ask you to stick to the five minutes, and then we follow that with a question period.
Without further delay, I now give the floor to the first witness in this group.
Professor Whitney Lackenbauer, the floor is yours for five minutes.
2:05 p.m.
Dr. P. Whitney Lackenbauer Professor, Trent University, As an Individual
Thank you.
I'm very honoured to appear before the committee today from my home in Oxford County, which is on traditional Anishinabe and Neutral territory, covered by the Upper Canada treaties. By taking the time to acknowledge the land that I stand on, I remind myself of the long history of silencing in this country and the need to speak the truth on a journey towards reconciliation.
Your current study on Arctic sovereignty, security and emergency preparedness of indigenous peoples covers a lot of terrain that is near and dear to my heart. I'm going to touch on a few topics in my opening statement.
In terms of Arctic security writ large, the framework that I typically employ to conceptualize Arctic threats is one that differentiates between threats that pass through the Arctic, threats to the Arctic itself and then threats originating in our Arctic.
I want to focus my opening statements on threats in the Canadian north, most of which I see as related to our ability to respond to humanitarian and environmental emergencies caused or exacerbated by climate change: from tundra fires and wildfires to melting permafrost and coastal erosion to flooding and landslides, as well as risks amplified by heightened human activity in the north, such as pollution and spills, or maritime and air disasters.
My team adopts an all-hazards approach to identifying measures to anticipate, mitigate and respond to risks in remote communities and austere environments. Our focus is on how we can improve whole-of-government and intergovernmental responses and work towards more holistic whole-of-society approaches to build resilience and enhance emergency management.
Canadian Rangers are an example of a community-based capability within the Canadian Armed Forces, who provide important grassroots local responses across the spectrum of risk. In full disclosure, I am honorary lieutenant-colonel of the 1st Canadian Ranger Patrol Group, which spans our three northern territories. I am a huge proponent and promoter of the Canadian Rangers. I see the Rangers as a distinctly Canadian military solution that embraces northerners and indigenous peoples as the heart of what's needed to encourage and leverage subject matter expertise, capabilities and local relationships in ways that are attuned to both community and national needs.
The Rangers serve as the eyes, ears and voice of the Canadian Armed Forces in remote regions. They guide southern-based soldiers who deploy to our north. Due to their presence and capabilities, Canadian Rangers regularly support other government agencies in preparing for, responding to and recovering from a broad spectrum of local emergency and disaster scenarios.
Over the last couple of years, Rangers were a key component of Operation Laser—which, of course, was the military's response to COVID-19 in isolated communities—while continuing their established roles in responding to heavy flooding in places like Lake Vermilion, Hay River and Kashechewan. They evacuated communities threatened by forest fires, responded to plane crashes and supported ground search and rescue.
We should note that residents of Canada's remote regions, and particularly indigenous peoples in our north, already serve in the military in very high numbers per capita, as Canadian Rangers.
One straightforward way of bolstering emergency management in remote communities is to improve the coordination between the Rangers and other first responder organizations, such as the Canadian Coast Guard Auxiliary, volunteer search and rescue organizations, indigenous guardians programs and volunteer firefighters. Relationships are key.
Better horizontal and vertical coordination of the diverse array of actors involved in security, disaster and emergency management means embracing a multisectoral approach, changing how we talk and working together across jurisdictional boundaries before, during and after emergencies.
I echo previous witnesses before the committee when I call for greater clarity about who is responsible for what aspects of emergency management, what capabilities exist at local and regional levels, how these capabilities might be better integrated and coordinated, and where there are gaps in our processes that must be addressed.
We have positive examples of successful communities of practice, like the Arctic security working group, co-chaired by Joint Task Force North and the territories, which works well at a pan-territorial regional level.
We still face major challenges in information sharing between departments, agencies and governments, and with local actors. This inter-agency and interasset information sharing and coordination was a major theme and recommendation of the Newfoundland and Labrador Public Inquiry Respecting Ground Search and Rescue for Lost and Missing Persons, led by Commissioner James Igloliorte of Labrador.
In my view, improved information is a key opportunity space that can be acted upon immediately. This requires a cultural change in how federal actors think about their role in not just ingesting relevant information for federal purposes but also providing information to first responders at the speed of relevance.
One possible initiative that could help to synchronize different lines of effort would be implementing an Inuit Nunangat community public safety officer program, which Calvin Pederson, who you're going to hear from next Tuesday, our colleague Dr. Peter Kikkert and I have proposed. This would provide communities with officers responsible for search and rescue, all-hazards emergency management, fire prevention, land and marine safety, and emergency medical assistance, all integrated under one hat. I'd be pleased to discuss this in more detail in questions and answers if you wish.
Finally, I see important opportunities related to strategic infrastructure investments that align defence and security needs with the well-established priorities of territorial, provincial and indigenous governments. Priority areas include communications, both broadband and satellite; improvements to airfields; port and harbour facilities; and sensor systems that enhance our domain awareness in both the environmental and human dimensions. Also, addressing infrastructure deficits in the north that create vulnerabilities in the security sphere should be synchronized wherever possible to also address persistent social, health and economic inequities in the region.
To wrap up, relationships are key. Indigenous peoples and northerners are key to local solutions to meet evolving human and environmental security threats in the north, and we need to better share information in anticipation of emergencies, during emergencies and in discerning lessons afterwards. All of this is contingent on more fully adopting whole-of-government and whole-of-society approaches to emergency management, which will bolster resilience, security and sovereignty.
When we come up with a sober appraisal of the security situation in the Canadian Arctic, I hope that we will align smart investments in Arctic defence and security with civilian priorities and assure that they provide multi-use or military and civilian benefits wherever possible.
Thank you. Qujannamiik.
2:10 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Marc Garneau
Thank you, Professor Lackenbauer.
We'll now go to Mr. Anthony Moore.
Mr. Moore, you have five minutes.
2:10 p.m.
Anthony Moore President of the Board of Directors, First Nations' Emergency Services Society
[Witness spoke in Nisga'a and provided the following text:]
Simgigat, sigidim haanaḵ’, k’uba wilksihlkw g̱anhl k’ubatk’ihlkw. Ksg̱ooḵ ni dim t’ooyaḵshl Sim’oogit Lax̱ha wilt gin̓amhl amaa sa tgun loom̓.
[Witness provided the following translation:]
Ladies and gentleman, first I would like to thank God for giving us this beautiful day to have our meeting.
[English]
Good afternoon, everybody. Thank you to our Creator for bringing us this day.
I wish to thank you all for the invitation to come today. It was a little short notice, so I don't have everything fully prepared.
Regarding FNESS and the work we've been able to do over the last few months regarding emergency management, a lot of it stemmed from the specific work that came mainly from the floods and fires that have occurred over the last five years, and, in particular, the atmospheric flooding that occurred over this past winter.
A lot of the work FNESS has been able to accomplish stems directly from working with those communities directly affected and having the support of our staff and being able to pull in staff on short notice to reach out to those communities and give them the supports they were lacking, given the rapidness of the incidents themselves.
In terms of what we are looking to do over the next few years.... We just completed our strategic planning this past winter, and we are going through a current restructuring of FNESS to better align ourselves with the four pillars of emergency management. The action we're taking, we hope, aligns with the goals and strategies of what both the Province of British Columbia has planned as well as the Government of Canada for responding to emergencies across the province.
In these disasters, we—and I, personally,—have had the ability to witness first-hand the effects the communities are still going through at this current stage. There are many communities that are still displaced with very few plans in place on the recovery side of it to ensure that they have a plan they can understand to get themselves back home.
In addition to that, in areas such as Lytton, where the entire community was devastated by fire, we have witnessed those members being displaced for months at a time, exceeding the limits of what response agencies, such as EMBC, are capable of and will followed-through on.
What we're witnessing is that the communities themselves—their elected members and their administration—are dealing with the long-term financial effects of having to deal with their community members to ensure they feel comfortable and safe, and that they are well attended to.
When it comes to the other aspects, the First Nations Leadership Council for British Columbia is currently developing an action plan to alleviate a lot of this work by increasing the amount of funding that comes through FNESS in the event of larger incidents that may come down in the future. With the wildfires slowly increasing and with Environment Canada predicting, in particular, in B.C., multiple heat domes, we can only anticipate more natural disasters. FNESS is uniquely lining itself up to be that response agency for first nations communities in British Columbia.
Thank you.
2:15 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Marc Garneau
Thank you, Mr. Moore.
We'll now proceed with a round of questions.
I have Mrs. Stubbs up first, for six minutes.
2:15 p.m.
Conservative
Shannon Stubbs Conservative Lakeland, AB
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I appreciate that.
Mr. Moore, I think many of us can only dream of being as comprehensive and articulate as you were, speaking primarily extemporaneously and, as you said, on short notice. Thank you for your testimony.
Dr. Lackenbauer, I noticed that you focused your remarks on threats in the Arctic itself. I want to thank you for that, and for the additional information you gave. I wonder if you would, in this part, touch on what you believe to be the top threats or connected priorities through the Arctic and to the Arctic.
2:15 p.m.
Professor, Trent University, As an Individual
Thank you. I'd be delighted to.
When I think of threats through the Arctic, threats that emanate from outside of the Canadian Arctic region and would pass through or over the region to strike at targets outside of the Arctic, I see these as inextricably linked to continental defence writ large.
I think it's important for the language that, when we're talking about North American defence threats, we're focusing on great power competition. We're looking at what's playing out with non-like-minded states—competitors like China and Russia—and looking at what is primarily going on in the technological domain. We're looking at what they're doing with next-generation ICBMs, with hypersonic glide vehicles with warheads on them, and what we're looking at in terms of advanced cruise missiles.
The Arctic factors into this, because some of the sensor systems that we need, detection systems, and some of our intercept capabilities, working in partnership with our allies, particularly the United States, are deployed in the Arctic. As we've made commitments to increase our military presence, a lot of that is going to relate to sensor systems and domain awareness that serve a broader integrated deterrence mission. The emphasis here is that a lot of these are military threats passing through the region.
When I say “conventional” military or “nuclear” military threats, those we have a long history of balancing. When I think of threats to the Arctic, I don't see these as primarily falling within the “conventional” military domain. There are military threats. There are cyber-threats. There's competition going on in the information domain that are below the threshold of armed conflict competition. They are threats that are playing out now and will continue to play out in the years ahead.
I think a lot of the threats to the Arctic relate to possible malicious intent associated with foreign direct investment. It could be foreign scientific research practices that have intentions that aren't what they appear to be on the surface. They can relate to attempts by foreign actors to influence proper democratic discussions that we're having as Canadians about Arctic priorities.
The primary threat, however, to our Arctic is climate change, and that's a threat that, unfortunately, we can't address at just an Arctic level. It requires global action, but it is a threat multiplier, a threat amplifier and a crisis multiplier for those of us who are responding to emergencies in the north. It really is a complicating factor.
June 10th, 2022 / 2:20 p.m.
Conservative
Shannon Stubbs Conservative Lakeland, AB
Thank you for your comments.
I think many Canadians, and probably elected representatives as well, would be skeptical of and surprised by the possibility that there could be real potential security threats from foreign actors to the Arctic and to Canada in general, although academics and experts like yourself, as well as DND-associated experts and security intelligence officials in Canada, have been sounding the same alarms.
What would be your view of the level of preparation, militarily and defence-wise, to prepare for or to mitigate those threats? What would you see as the top priorities that should be addressed? What are the main barriers?
2:20 p.m.
Professor, Trent University, As an Individual
Thank you. Those are excellent questions.
First of all, I would suggest that we need to be very clear in identifying what we see as particular Arctic vulnerabilities that are beyond the capacity of our national or allied solutions to meet these threats.
Often, we treat everything Arctic as if it is inherently different from the suite of risks and threats that we face across Canada, so I think the first set of questions asks what is specifically “Arctic” about those threats. After that, we can assess whether or not we have the right capabilities and, most importantly, relationships to be able to meet them.
In terms of immediate-term priorities, I think it's improving our domain awareness. It's our situational awareness of what is happening within our Arctic and recognizing that a lot of the activity is not going to be overt and it's not going to be military. It's not going to take the form of a conventional challenge to our sovereignty, which is something that we love to fixate on.
A lot more of these challenges are competition for narratives. It's trying to shape what we want to be as a country, what our opportunities are for leadership domestically and internationally within the Arctic and ensuring that we have the right relationships, not only across government departments and agencies, but across governments. It must be centred on northerners first and foremost, as the most important source of information in detecting a lot of anomalies in the environmental and human space. Who better than northerners themselves to determine if something is out of the ordinary in the conversations happening on Facebook or with people coming to their communities and interacting in strange ways?
2:20 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Marc Garneau
Thank you very much, Ms. Stubbs.
We'll now go to Ms. Atwin for six minutes.
2:20 p.m.
Liberal
Jenica Atwin Liberal Fredericton, NB
Thank you so much, Mr. Chair.
Thank you to our witnesses today. I would like to begin by acknowledging that I am speaking to you all from the unceded and unsurrendered Wolastoqiyik territory here in Fredericton, New Brunswick. It's also Purple Shirts for Clean Water day here in New Brunswick.
I'd like to start with you, Mr. Lackenbauer. We've been going to you a lot. I appreciated your testimony today.
You mentioned the importance of discerning lessons after a disaster. I'm wondering if you could speak to some of the key lessons that have been learned over the last five years—or maybe even two years, because it's been such a tumultuous time. I'm wondering if you could highlight those.
2:20 p.m.
Professor, Trent University, As an Individual
Yes. Absolutely. That's a wonderful question.
I'm going to refer, if it's appropriate, to a particular initiative of undertaking with my team and many of the first responders in the Kitikmeot Region of the central Arctic within Nunavut through a Kitikmeot search and rescue round table. Again, I'm reporting on behalf of some of these real subject matter experts, the practitioners on the ground, in identifying challenges.
What they're seeing, and this also relates to some of the COVID activities, is an increasing caseload of demands on the time of first responders. It relates to changing environmental conditions, loss of land safety knowledge, food insecurity, and hunters and fishers taking greater risks on the land. When I say land, I mean sea, ice and land, if we're speaking in an Inuit Nunangat context here.
They talk about gaps in training or coordination of training across different organizations that they belong to, and about some of the shortages in equipment that would enable them to do their jobs better. They have concerns about volunteer burnout. With the same group of people often being turned to and asked to come out, it eventually drains their energy. There is a lack of mental and physical health supports for responders. They talk about overly burdensome administrative requirements and reporting requirements for people who are volunteering, and about difficulty coordinating, co-operating and communicating across the community, territorial, provincial, regional and federal levels.
One of the other areas they often raise is slow response times from southern-based search and rescue assets. That begs the question of what types of assets, then, should be predeployed in the north in terms of federal assets? How much more can we go and build that resiliency and support capacity-building efforts on the local level to bolster that local ability or regional ability to respond to these as a solution that is made in the north and by the north?
2:25 p.m.
Liberal
Jenica Atwin Liberal Fredericton, NB
Excellent. Thank you so much.
I'm ashamed to say that I didn't know a lot about the Canadian Rangers, so I think this is such an important opportunity for us as parliamentarians but also for Canadians. Maybe just to flip that question to the other side, can you celebrate some of the successes of the Canadian Rangers program? What can we learn from this in terms of ensuring that it's a sustainable program that is supported with the resources it needs?
2:25 p.m.
Professor, Trent University, As an Individual
Thank you. That's my dream question.
It wasn't preplanted, I promise.
Rangers, as I mentioned, are often described as the eyes and ears of the north. I love to say that they are the eyes, ears and voice in remote regions, as the late Peter Kuniliusie, a Ranger from Clyde River, Nunavut, once described them. Rangers are part of the Canadian Armed Forces reserves. They are members of the military who are serving, but in a distinct form of service from our regular forces or our primary reservists. This year marks the 75th anniversary of the establishment of the Rangers. Many of you were probably in the House when it was announced that it was the year of the Ranger, which was wonderful.
Since May of 1947, they've provided lightly equipped self-sufficient mobile forces that support a whole range of national security and public safety operations. They conduct patrols within their homeland. It's a way of showing the flag but also sharing knowledge with one another. They report unusual activities or sightings. They collect local information that's relevant to the military and other partners. They often work with other members of the military and members of other departments and agencies involved in domestic operations. There's a lot of high-profile involvement and assistance with search and rescue efforts. In many Ranger patrols, particularly in the provinces, that is very much the bread and butter of what they do.
They also assist in a direct way with natural disasters like forest fires and floods. In the pandemic response, they are the interlocutors or liaison people within their community. They know which elders probably should be the priority for evacuation or movement to a central location, or who requires assistance with breathing and therefore needs to get to the community centre with a generator first. They speak the language and offer that reassurance. It's an incredible group of 5,000 Canadians living in more than 220 communities across the country, the majority of whom are indigenous. The official statement is that Rangers speak 26 different languages and dialects, many indigenous.
In my mind, they are a wonderful example of what we can do when we harness this tremendous capacity that we have in our communities and that resides in our indigenous peoples. They are really a great example of how diversity and inclusion is truly a force multiplier for our military and for our first responders.
2:25 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Marc Garneau
Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Atwin.
We'll now go to Monsieur Ste-Marie.
You have the floor for six minutes.
2:25 p.m.
Bloc
Gabriel Ste-Marie Bloc Joliette, QC
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you to Mr. Moore and Mr. Lackenbauer for being here.
My first questions are for Mr. Moore.
With regard to resilience and responding to emergency situations, during this study, witnesses have often referred to the importance of including the communities themselves in the response. The communities are often the first responders in the event of an emergency.
What do you think of that? What are your thoughts on the role of community services in emergency response? Is there good cooperation with other services? Is the knowledge that communities have of their own territory utilized? How can we ensure that the communities have all the necessary resources in order to be resilient?
2:30 p.m.
President of the Board of Directors, First Nations' Emergency Services Society
When it comes to communities themselves and having their responders be involved, in emergency management that's one of the early preparedness statutes, where we work with each community to ensure that they're able.
For the first 72 hours, as an example, we ask those communities to be able to handle it themselves while we prepare for the larger-scale response of whatever incident it is. When it comes to the PREOCs, the provincial regional emergency coordination centres or the emergency operations centres, themselves for each of those individual incidents, we are asking that those communities impacted bring somebody who has that local knowledge of where they are to the emergency operation centre because of that local knowledge.
If there's, for example, a huge wildfire rolling through a community that is impacting two or three communities, we ask them to send a representative to the emergency operations centre where we, FNESS, also have a representative, a technical specialist, who works together with those communities to identify their specific interests that they wish to protect, whether it's a specific house, a specific cultural site or even something as simple as gravesites.
When we have that information, we're able to plug that into our internal system, for which we use Lightship. It's a very vast online mapping tool that allows us to input information on the fly with any device—a cellphone, iPad or laptop—using GPS coordinates that are usually pretty accurate when we have other instruments available.
Having them take part in training is another example, with our Lightship and what we call our strike teams. We go out into those communities and make sure we map out and use GPS for those specific sites that they've identified for us. We send in other teams such as structure protection units, as an example, for a threat of a wildfire, or Tiger Dams in the event of flooding.
We have trailers identified for each type of incident that would occur. For our strike teams, we have cargo trailers outfitted with FireSmart mitigation tools, such as moving vegetation and things away from the home to keep the home safe. We have flood mitigation car trailers with Tiger Dams and other sorts of damming or redirecting tools for water. We utilize all this equipment in conjunction with those communities and those specific community members to be able to try to protect everything that they have identified to us.