Over the weekend, Doug Ford held a press conference regarding the wildfires that have raged through parts of Northwestern Ontario and displaced several First Nations communities.
Alvin Fiddler, Grand Chief of Nishnawbe Aski Nation, made the following post in response. COPE Ontario echoes these sentiments:
“I guess First Nations leadership didn’t get the memo that Premier Ford was coming to Thunder Bay today.
The Premier came up to meet local people coordinating Ontario’s wildfire response. That’s fine, but he also needs to engage with First Nations leadership managing this situation.
On Friday Doug Ford claimed that Ontario is “throwing every single resource we can” at the wildfires that are threatening our communities. That’s not what we are seeing on the ground.
The Ford government left the people of Namaygoosisagagun to fend for themselves as the flames wiped out their community. Eabametoong First Nation (Fort Hope) waited for days for their evacuation to begin.
I would like to remind Doug Ford that it’s our people that are being impacted the most by these wildland fires. If you are going to make the effort to come up, it can’t just be for a photo op.
Ontario receives millions each year from the federal government to manage emergencies like this. For days we have been asking for details about where our members will be evacuated to and what supports will be available to help care for them in these host communities. To ensure that they will be safe and supported wherever they go. So far there has been no response.
Today’s visit would have been a good opportunity for the Premier to provide some answers.
But he chose not to include First Nations leadership.”
