Working with First Nations on an Indigenous fire stewardship protocol could go a long way: Karen Restoule in The Hill Times – MLI
June 18, 2025
Practices like prescribed burns must be incorporated within federal and provincial strategies and leveraged not only for First Nations, but also for land across the country.
As wildfires burning across northern Canada reach record-breaking levels, more than 25,000 people—many of whom are First Nations—have been evacuated from their homes. Wildfire emergencies are increasingly becoming a regular occurrence, year after year.
As of June 12, there were 33 First Nations evacuated due to the ongoing risk of wildfires in provinces from British Columbia through to Ontario. Northern Manitoba alone saw more than 17,000 people evacuated, many of whom are from First Nations across the region whose citizens are now far from their homes and placed in crowded hotels, temporary shelters, and the like, waiting to learn more about the degree of impact on their communities. It has been described as one of the largest evacuations in Manitoba’s history, a province that has records dating back more than 100 years showing wildfires annually.
