Indigenous Services Minister Mandy Gull-Masty in Toronto on Thursday.Laura Proctor/The Globe and Mail
A group of First Nations leaders in Northern Ontario say a house fire in a remote community earlier this week that killed a three-year-old boy was preventable, but the group says they lack equitable fire safety services.
The fire, which happened in Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug, a community of 1,500 people located nearly 600 kilometres north of Thunder Bay, has underscored long-standing concerns about fire services in remote First Nations. The Independent First Nations Alliance, or IFNA, filed a human-rights complaint about the issue last year, but they say the complaint has been stalled at the Canadian Human Rights Commission.
Now, the group is demanding the federal government take action to ensure adequate fire services in remote communities while also asking the federal Auditor-General to investigate the Canadian Human Rights Commission, which the IFNA accuses of slow-walking their complaint.
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Chief Carla Duncan from Muskrat Dam, a member First Nation of IFNA, said the group’s concerns are not new.
“We have been raising concerns about inadequate fire safety funding for years,” Ms. Duncan told Indigenous Services Minister Mandy Gull-Masty at an event in Toronto on Thursday.
Ms. Duncan said risks “have been clearly identified, and we have said repeatedly that they put our people in danger, yet our communities are still living with limited fund and prevention supports.”
“Now a child is dead. At what point does that become unacceptable to ISC?” she said, referring to Indigenous Services Canada. “Overcrowded housing and aging infrastructure are increasing fire risks in our communities. What is ISC doing to address these conditions as part of the fire safety?”
Indigenous Services is responsible for on-reserve funding of programs and services including fire protection, using a tiered-funding system under its First Nations Fire Protection Strategy.
“With a focus on fire prevention, First Nations are expected to meet the requirements at each tier while doing the preparatory work to access funding for activities in the next tier of funding,” an online government document states.
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For example, capital investments for fire protection infrastructure and equipment will only be considered if First Nations are able to support the infrastructure, such as having a heated building to store a fire truck.
The IFNA says the national strategy is flawed and doesn’t consider operational costs of recruitment, training and maintenance to reach these requirements. The group says it forces First Nations to compete in a limited capital funding pool. They also say there is no legislative standard governing fire safety on-reserve the way there is for municipalities in the province.
Their human-rights complaint alleges Indigenous Services Canada has systemically discriminated against the First Nations for failing to provide equitable fire safety services to First Nations communities, particularly those in remote northern regions in Ontario.
Ms. Gull-Masty responded at the Toronto event by describing what she said are the challenges faced by ministers before her and those she herself faces as the first Indigenous minister of ISC. She said she wants to create a path that leads First Nations to independence away from her department.
“We have to work together, to collaborate, to train to do that,” Ms. Gull-Masty said. “I want to acknowledge I know that there is a life lost by a child.”
The IFNA chiefs also accuse the Canadian Human Rights Commission of taking too long to address their complaint, creating a situation they say is a matter of life or death.
Véronique Robitaille, a spokesperson for the commission, declined to comment on the individual case, but said that “there is a trend of turning to the complaints system under the Canadian Human Rights Act to address underfunding of services on reserve, often when requests for adequate funding have been ignored.”
“The problems we’re seeing are longstanding, serious and systemic. Climate change is making these challenges worse by increasing risks to housing, safety, and community well-being in First Nation communities. That’s why the Commission has long been calling for real, systemic changes to address the chronic lack of funding in First Nations communities.”
She added, “We are deeply saddened by the news of this tragedy in Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug First Nation. Our hearts are with the family, loved ones, and all those in the community who are grieving during this incredibly difficult time.”
Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug received $132,000 for fire protection and training from Indigenous Services Canada in 2024-25, while a non-First Nations community about 250 kilometres northwest of Thunder Bay, Ont., budgeted $360,000 for similar services.
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The First Nations say the systemic neglect is responsible for high mortality rates in their communities and that First Nation individuals are 10 times more likely to die in a fire than non-Indigenous people, while First Nations children under 10 years old are 86 times more likely to die in a fire than non-First Nations children.
The IFNA chiefs objected to a response they received from the commission that said it “kindly request[s] that you do not send multiple requests for status updates.”
“Since we have limited staff to respond to each status update request, frequent requests for status updates cause more delays in our process,” it reads.
Ms. Gull-Masty criticized that response.
“While I do not have authority over the CHRT, I can very honestly say I do not agree with the response that they did provide,” she told the chiefs.
With a report from The Canadian Press.