Territory’s response to 2023 wildfire review questioned

MLAs returned to the Northwest Territories’ 2023 wildfires after-action review and the possibility of a dedicated territorial emergency management agency as the N.W.T. legislature’s fall sitting began.

Setting up such an agency was one of the recommendations made by contractor Transitional Solutions Inc, or TSI, in a report released earlier this year. The GNWT has rejected the suggestion, stating a standalone agency would be “costly, duplicative and difficult to staff.”

Range Lake MLA Kieron Testart, criticizing that decision in the legislature on Thursday, said the GNWT’s existing emergency management system “lacks oversight and accountability.” 

Testart said roles and responsibilities within emergency coordination groups were unclear, leading to hesitation and indecision among decision-makers.

He said the lack of an emergency management department within the territorial government added to the challenges, pointing to former MP Michael McLeod’s recent criticism of how this summer’s evacuation of his home community, Fort Providence, was handled.

“We were forced from our homes, separated from our families and the emergency management system was laid bare to its faults, which the independent after-action review laid out,” Testart said.

“So why, after so much time and $331,000 of taxpayer expense, is the government rejecting any part of this after-action review – let alone a foundational one that the consultants recommended immediate action in zero to 12 months to implement?”

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Yellowknife North MLA Shauna Morgan, on the same theme, urged the GNWT to better plan for future airlifts and the housing of vulnerable residents in host communities.

“It’s not enough to say, ‘Local communities, you’re in charge of emergencies and if you feel you’re in over your head in the middle of a crisis, just call us then,'” she said.

“We need the GNWT to take responsibility beforehand for the big and expensive challenges around evacuations and the mass provision of emergency social services that no community could ever handle on its own.”

Morgan said she understands setting up a dedicated emergency management agency may not be feasible for the territory. Even so, she said, having a trusted and independent mechanism in place during emergencies is “critically important.”

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She asked communities minister Vince McKay about the department’s commitment to develop new regulations governing emergency preparedness.

McKay said Maca was committed to developing regulations and the after-action review had helped identify various issues, including confusion among authorities about who was responsible for deciding when to evacuate.

“After that event in 2023, having been part of it, I understand the confusion and everything else that was there,” the minister said.

McKay said the territory is actively learning lessons. 

“We’re following the after-action review, we’re reviewing the Emergency Management Act and we’re going to implement clear roles even in working with the City of Yellowknife, for an example,” he said.

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Yellowknife Centre MLA Robert Hawkins inquired about how much a dedicated emergency management agency would cost the GNWT. McKay said the department had not specifically alighted on a figure.

Morgan also questioned the minister about political interference and delays in decision-making, a subject brought up in the after-action review.

McKay said the existing Incident Command System, or ICS, does not involve emergency management personnel reporting to ministers. Instead, he characterized it as a system that allows trained staff to provide recommendations to ministers.

He said while in the past there may have been political interference in operations, he believes that is now “highly unlikely” given the training that is ongoing.

“The after-action review brought out issues that happened during that time. From that time forward, the government has taken steps to correct some of those and has been working since that time,” he said.

Testart asked Premier RJ Simpson if the GNWT was willing to reverse its decision to reject a standalone agency and instead accept the recommendation.

“There are 35 recommendations in that report. Thirty-five. If you look at 34 of them, they say ‘agree,'” the premier replied.

“There is one where the department looked at internally the capacity and made the determination that this is what is appropriate for our northern context.

“We could farm out all decisions to contractors and to third parties and academics and experts from other places, but at some point we have to govern and make decisions based on the learned experiences that we have as a government.”