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Remote Indigenous communities need fire training and support.
This was the message Timmins-James Bay MP Charlie Angus delivered in the House of Commons on Monday.
Angus implored Minister of Indigenous Services Patty Hadju to work with communities in the North and address the shortfalls in their fire safety infrastructure and training.
“There are a multitude of factors that are affecting people in the communities,” said Angus. “We need to have a sense of what are the communities facing across the board? Do we have adequate fire training in each of the communities and if not, why not?”
A fire in Webequie First Nation last week left a family of eight homeless. Angus said the community has no fire truck, fire hall or equipment to deal with the fire.
The lack of infrastructure is reminiscent of a house fire in January 2023 in Peawanuck (Weenusk First Nation), where another family was left homeless and a 10-year-old girl was killed.
Peawanuck was able to obtain a fire truck after that fire, but Angus said there is a lack of infrastructure to house the vehicle on site.
“I’ve been told they were moving forward, and they have the truck, but again, we need infrastructure, they need a heated hall,” he said.
"I’m trusting that the minister’s going to follow through on that promise to Peawanuck.”
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Angus said that the push for wealth in the James Bay region needs to take into account the communities that exist there and the poverty they experience.
“Premier Doug Ford has promised to personally drive a bulldozer across Indigenous territory to dig out the wealth for investors,” said Angus on the House floor. “Meanwhile, people in Webequie have no safe drinking water, live in substandard houses, and have no fire protection to keep their children safe. This is unacceptable."
He is calling for a review of what remote communities need to prevent and protect their residents from house fires.
“What we really need is a full review of the situation in all the Northern communities so we have a better sense of what are the shortfalls and what are the risks facing communities right across Northern Ontario on reserve,” said Angus.
Angus said that this issue is something he feels very strongly about, after attending the funerals of those who died in fires in Kashechewan shortly after he was first elected.
"It shouldn’t take fire tragedies to bring about public safety on Northern reserves,” said Angus. “These communities have the same rights that everyone else does, to know that their kids can go to bed safe at night in the winter without fire breaking out.”
