Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  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.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  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

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  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 pa

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Thank you. Ideally, it would be people in the community who have the desire and the capability of learning these. Obviously, it would have to start with an external mentorship of some sort. As was mentioned about the fire trucks, those are no different from any other vehicle. T

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Thank you. We see it in B.C., but I'm not sure of all the other provinces. Every community now really has to put forward a wildfire defence plan. That speaks to evacuation, the one way in, one way out. Those are unique to each of those communities. Whistler is no different. Wh

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Thank you, sir. My mind goes to this committee embracing at least a very high-level baseline set of recommendations or expectations relating to preparedness, education and response, working of course in collaboration with the indigenous communities and the provinces. I think lea

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Yes, the issue is probably not so much the material. We see that in a lot of communities where corners are cut, where there's no fire blocking and where there are gaps. Again, the worry on any of this is the travel of smoke and fire in a structure where it can get hold and it ca

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Thank you. I'm going to let Tina expand on that a little bit further, but we're very fortunate to see, in some of the mandate letters and some of the work that the federal government is moving forward with, that it is really looking at a national perspective as it relates to the

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Thank you, sir, for your question. One area that we believe strongly in, which could really support the disconnect between what is municipal or regional responsibility to the federal government, is the secretariat and creating a similar responsibility embedded in the federal gov

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  If you don't mind, Tina, I'll start and pass it on. What has been explained to us, if I understand them correctly, by the indigenous fire marshals' leadership, is that, in some of these communities, they don't receive funding until the project is done. There is a need for the ba

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  That's one element of it that's been explained to us, yes. Tina, is there anything you can add to that?

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  As we understand it, they don't have the same processes in their communities. They're autonomous, but there's a gap in those regulations, those enforcement needs. That's the problem.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Thank you. Yes, it's vital. The only functional way to deal with an emergency response related to fire is to have the equipment ready. A fire truck has water in it and you can't leave it outside, especially in Arctic temperatures. Without water, it's not going to serve you. Fun

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Thank you. Yes, we do. As the national body, we work through the leaders of the territories and provinces and such. We assist them so that it actually touches all three levels of government. We believe that we're a trusted adviser for the federal government in this regard. We w

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I am stumped as to how to help you. We're working with our indigenous leaders in the fire service through the national body now, and these are all-too-common comments before us. I can assure you that our time together here will go back through Ms. Saryeddine and back to our indig