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Chiefs at the Assembly of First Nations meeting in Ottawa passed an emergency resolution Thursday calling on the federal government to provide immediate support to Namaygoosisagagun First Nation, and commitments to rebuild homes and infrastructure.
Members of Namaygoosisagagun First Nation, also known as Collins First Nation, about 250 kilometers north of Thunder Bay, fled in boats as a wildfire engulfed the community Monday.
According to the resolution, the federal and provincial governments are failing northern Ontario First Nations who are self-evacuating due to a lack of communication and evacuation support from emergency management organizations.
Ontario officials say there are 136 active wildfires in the northwest region as of Wednesday, with 63 out of control. Another 44 fires are burning in the northeast, nine of which are out of control.
The resolution said despite commitments from Ontario and Canada, the only support and contact the community has yet received is from the Anishinabek Nation, which represents 39 First Nations in Ontario.
A statement from Namaygoosisagagun Chief Helen Angela Paavola, read to the assembly, said the escape of her members was “nothing short of a miracle.”
“Small 12- and 14-foot boats were all they had to escape from the raging inferno,” the statement read.
“We have lost everything.”
Namaygoosisagagun has 130 registered members but is still in the process of being federally recognized.
Indigenous Services Canada (ISC) Minister Mandy Gull-Masty told reporters at the Rogers Convention Centre the Ontario government will be providing support to Namaygoosisagagun, but her department also has a role to play in that support.
When asked why Namaygoosisagagun didn’t receive warning to evacuate, Gull-Masty said it is outside the scope of her department.
“I want to express my sympathies to the members that really endured a very tragic and intense situation with wildfires,” said Gull-Masty.
Gull-Masty said her department steps in once an evacuation is triggered to support residents through the evacuation and then repatriation, when they return home.
She said there was no information to share on if ISC will provide financial support to Namaygoosisagagun First Nation.
Leaders from Namaygoosisagagun First Nation in northwestern Ontario shared this video footage with CBC Indigenous showing parts of the community after a wildfire tore through it July 13.
Anishinabek Nation Grand Chief Linda Debassige said Namaygoosisagagun First Nation is being treated like a “jurisdictional pin ball” between federal and provincial governments and there has been no financial or resource support for the community.
Debassige said the community has lost over 30 homes, the band office, band garage, community centre, a school, cultural cabins, warehouses and infrastructure supporting the community.
Call on media
Many First Nations chiefs gave emotional statements in support of the resolution, many whose own communities have also had to evacuate due to wildfires.
Wilfred King, chief of Gull Bay First Nation, about 150 kilometres north of Thunder Bay, told the assembly some of his members left of their own volition Sunday and Monday knowing a fire was close.
King declared a state of emergency on Tuesday. King, who was in Ottawa attending the AFN assembly, said he was never notified by Ontario’s Ministry of Natural Resources of the situation near Gull Bay.
King also expressed disappointment in the media in its lack of coverage of the emergencies facing northern Ontario First Nations.
King said when he looked at CBC News Thursday morning, “their biggest concern was the smoke in the City of Toronto and not about our people escaping the fires by foot, by boat or by automobile.”
“Our people are forgotten when it comes to these emergencies and I think it shows you the complete, complete failure on behalf of the federal governments and the provincial governments dealing with these situations,” said King.
The resolution calls for an independent review of the emergency response to identify failures in communication and co-ordination and ways to correct them.
