On Wednesday and Thursday January 16th and 17th 2019, twenty-five (25) participants from First Nations communities across Ontario met with thirteen (13) representatives from federal and provincial ministries and agencies to begin a conversation about emergency management services in First Nations.

Participants joined at the invitation of the Chiefs of Ontario (COO), in their role as a convener and host, as described in their February 2018 proposal (see Appendix 7).

The goal of emergency planning for first nations is to provide the services needed to ensure that First Nations citizens have the capacity and services necessary to feel prepared to prevent, manage, and recover from emergencies within their communities. This comes through the identification and coordination of community services and citizens through the ‘Five Pillars’ of emergency management.

The objective of this proposal is to bring all stakeholders working in First Nations emergency management to discuss their respective roles and challenges, and jointly define a way forward. The path forward should allow for First Nations to actively participate in the design and delivery of their own emergency planning process.

COO’s plan described a three-phase approach.

  1. Stakeholder mapping, research/scan, and preparation (done).
  2. A two-day meeting to begin working on a comprehensive plan for emergency management services (this report).
  3. Implementation phase including hiring (requires funding).

The first phase revealed what citizens already know: that there are huge variations among First Nations communities, their kinds of experiences, and their ability to provide emergency management services. Their definitions of “emergencies” also vary. With multiple jurisdictions involved and no single authority responsible for First Nations emergency management, the starting point needs to be awareness building, getting people talking about the topic, and ensuring that whatever emerges reflects the needs of First Nations.

Read and download full PDF here: Chiefs of Ontario: Emergency Management Summit – January 2019