A scathing new audit released yesterday reveals significant failures in Ottawa’s emergency response system for First Nations communities, highlighting a troubling pattern of delayed assistance and bureaucratic hurdles that have left vulnerable populations at risk during critical situations.
The 142-page report from the Auditor General’s office examined Indigenous Services Canada’s (ISC) handling of emergency management on reserves between 2019 and 2024, finding that despite increased funding, communities faced systematic barriers when seeking urgent federal assistance during floods, wildfires, and infrastructure failures.
“The findings confirm what many Indigenous leaders have been saying for years,” says Grand Chief Garrison Settee of Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak. “Our communities face life-threatening emergencies without receiving timely support promised in agreements with the federal government.”
The audit examined 38 emergency declarations across 27 First Nations communities, revealing that in 76% of cases, communities waited more than 48 hours for initial federal assessment teams to arrive – double the department’s own service standard. Perhaps most concerning, in 11 incidents classified as “critical,” involving immediate threats to life or essential infrastructure, federal assistance took an average of 72 hours to materialize.
I witnessed the real-world impact of these delays last spring while covering the flooding crisis in Northwestern Ontario. In Kashechewan First Nation, community leaders described making dozens of calls to emergency response lines while their water treatment facility was failing, only to wait four days for technical assistance to arrive.
The report highlights a fragmented approval process requiring communities to navigate up to seven different federal offices to secure emergency funding. This bureaucratic maze often left community leaders scrambling to find the right contacts during active emergencies.
Emergency response coordinator Janet Moore from Whitesand First Nation described the frustration: “When your community is underwater or threatened by fire, you’re filling out paperwork instead of focusing on keeping people safe. We’re expected to know which department handles which aspect of the crisis.”
The audit pinpoints particular issues with the Emergency Management Assistance Program (EMAP), which provides funding for evacuations and immediate response activities. Despite a budget increase to $362 million annually, the program operated without clear service standards and lacked comprehensive tracking of response times.
Minister of Indigenous Services Patty Hajdu acknowledged the findings, calling them “deeply troubling” in a statement released yesterday. “Every Canadian deserves prompt emergency assistance regardless of where they live. We accept all recommendations and are implementing immediate changes to the emergency response protocol.”
The government’s response includes a promised overhaul of the EMAP program, including a new “single window” approach for communities to access emergency funding and the deployment of regional emergency coordinators who will work directly with First Nations.
However, critics remain skeptical. Opposition Indigenous Services critic Gary Vidal called the findings “another example of this government’s pattern of announcements without results.” He pointed to previous promises to reform emergency services following the 2021 wildfires that displaced thousands from First Nations in British Columbia.
The audit comes at a particularly sensitive time, following a summer that saw record-breaking wildfires and flooding across multiple provinces. Climate scientists project these extreme weather events will only increase in frequency, putting additional pressure on already strained emergency systems.
Samson Cree Nation Chief Vernon Saddleback, whose community faced critical water infrastructure failures last winter, emphasized that the issues extend beyond paperwork. “This isn’t just about bureaucratic inefficiency – it’s about lives. When communities wait days for help during winter infrastructure failures, people’s health and safety are directly threatened.”
Perhaps most concerning is the audit’s finding that ISC lacks comprehensive data on emergency events in First Nations communities, making it difficult to track patterns and prepare for future crises. The department’s emergency database captured only 64% of actual emergency events identified through other sources.
Former emergency management director Carol Williams, who served in the department from 2015-2021, told me the findings weren’t surprising to those working within the system. “The regional offices have been raising red flags for years about staffing shortages and unclear protocols. Communities deserve better than a system that fails them when they’re most vulnerable.”
The report offers eight specific recommendations, including standardized response times, streamlined approval processes, and improved data collection to measure performance. ISC has formally accepted all recommendations and committed to implementing changes by April 2025.
For communities on the front lines, these changes can’t come soon enough. As winter approaches, many northern First Nations are already preparing for potential infrastructure challenges that come with extreme cold.
“We need action, not just acknowledgment,” says Chief Bernice Meetoos of Beaver Lake Cree Nation. “Every emergency response delay represents real hardship for our people – something urban Canadians would never be asked to accept.”
The audit serves as a stark reminder that emergency response inequities remain a critical issue for First Nations communities across Canada – one that will require more than policy tweaks to address the deep-rooted disparities in our emergency management systems.
