Premier Brad Wall takes great exception to comments from the interim chief of the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations, Kimberly Jonathan. She is accusing him of exploiting the recent fire deaths of two toddlers on a northern reserve to attack the leadership in First Nations communities. The premier calls her remarks “regrettable” and “ridiculous”.
Wall says the issue is leadership in all Saskatchewan communities, including First Nations. The premier says the context of his remarks were made to congratulate the Saskatoon Tribal Council’s chief for his decision to conduct a fire safety audit to find out how well-prepared the local reserves are to handle a fire emergency. A similar audit is underway at the Meadow Lake Tribal Council after two toddlers died on the Makwa Sahgaiehcan First Nation last month when fire swept through their home. Wall says it is these kinds of efforts that demonstrate leadership.
“We need to see local leadership, not just this in particular case where we saw the tragic loss of two Saskatchewan kids, babies — but right across the province,” he said. “I hope every chief, every mayor, every reeve is vigilant about the ongoing level of fire protection.”
Wall says everyone, including First Nations leaders, are concerned about the safety and well-being of their citizens. He says the tragedy at the Makwa Sahgaiehcan First Nation is a stark reminder of how important that is.
“If this particular situation is not an exception, but, rather, it has been repeated or perhaps is the case on other First Nations or frankly in any other community, then leaders need to step forward and deal with it quickly and find out what they have signed and what they have not signed and find out if their fire protection has been paid up because, literally, lives hang in the balance,” he said.
The closest fire department to the Makwa Sahgaiehcan reserve is in Loon Lake, but the department did not respond to the blaze because the band had cancelled its service contract.
The chief was apparently unaware of that, even though he signed his name to a notice terminating the agreement.
The cause of the fire cannot be determined because of the total destruction caused by the blaze. A smoke detector was found in the burned out remains, but it was impossible to tell whether it was in working order at the time of the fire.