PM pledges to ensure First Nations get same fire aid as other regions

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau pledged to close gaps between First Nations and municipalities on fighting wildfires on Thursday after meeting with local leaders facing treacherous flames in British Columbia.

Trudeau acknowledged the divide in resources for municipalities, which work with the province on forest fires, and First Nations reserves, which fall under federal responsibility.

“Municipalities get resources from provinces, but when the neighbouring Indigenous community turns to the province: ‘Well, we need resources.’ ‘Well, you are a federal responsibility,’” he said. “We have to clear up those lines of flowing resources and ensuring people get what they need, regardless of whether they are in an Indigenous community or a non-Indigenous community.”

Trudeau left the federal cabinet meeting in Nanaimo on Vancouver Island to travel to Prince George in central B.C. to meet with those working to control some of the 563 wildfires that have charred more than 6,000 square kilometres.

B.C. has declared a state of emergency due to wildfires for the second time in as many years, and Trudeau said it is important to bring together all levels of government to adjust to the “new reality ” of extreme weather events.

“We need to make sure people are safe and that homes and livelihoods are protected. That’s something that we are very much working on and we will continue to. We made significant improvements, but ... there’s still lots more to do,” he said.

He has tasked several members of the federal cabinet with co-ordinating support, recovery and rebuilding efforts as the federal and B.C. governments work together to assist those affected by the fires.

He said his heart goes out to those who have lost homes. More than 40 structures have been destroyed in Telegraph Creek in northern B.C., including 21 on Tahltan territory.

“What Canadians do is stick up for each other in times of difficulty,” he said. “We are all heartbroken at the extraordinarily difficult situation people are going through.

“People have lived in these communities for generations, for millennia in the case of First Nations communities, and there is a deep attachment. Watching your entire livelihood and perhaps your kids’ future going up in smoke is an extraordinarily difficult thing.”

Grand Chief Ed John of the First Nations Summit said he met with the prime minister early Thursday and delivered the message that Indigenous groups are overburdened by wildfires.

“The fuel load out in the forest is massive. We expect that the fires will continue over the years. They will be bigger. They will be more intense,” John said.

John is calling for a $200 million federal fund to help the province’s 203 First Nations develop emergency management plans, train personnel and buy equipment over the next four years. He issued the proposal during last year’s fires, but heard “nothing ” from the federal government, he said.

Trudeau seemed open to their discussion on Thursday, John said.