More needs to be done to involve B.C. First Nations in emergency management, says Indigenous leader – CBC
May 11, 2023
Province says it is working to modernize emergency management legislation
Provincial and local authorities need to do more to involve First Nations in their emergency management plans, says Stó:lo Tribal Council Chief Tyrone McNeil.
McNeil says the B.C. government is not providing enough direction to local and regional governments on how to work with adjacent First Nations in emergency situations.
“We are not seeing it, we’re not feeling it,” McNeil told CBC’s The Early Edition. “We need to change that.”
As an example, McNeil says the town of Hope, about 152 kilometres east of Vancouver, issued an evacuation order during a wildfire last year, including a nearby Trans Mountain work camp located on the Shxw’ow’hamel reserve.
