This article originally appeared in The Hill Times.
By Karen Restoule, June 18, 2025
As wildfires burning across northern Canada reach record-breaking levels, more than 25,000 people—many of whom are First Nations—have been evacuated from their homes. Wildfire emergencies are increasingly becoming a regular occurrence, year after year.
As of June 12, there were 33 First Nations evacuated due to the ongoing risk of wildfires in provinces from British Columbia through to Ontario. Northern Manitoba alone saw more than 17,000 people evacuated, many of whom are from First Nations across the region whose citizens are now far from their homes and placed in crowded hotels, temporary shelters, and the like, waiting to learn more about the degree of impact on their communities. It has been described as one of the largest evacuations in Manitoba’s history, a province that has records dating back more than 100 years showing wildfires annually.
Wildfires, and other climate change events like heat, drought, and flooding have severely affected First Nations over the years including impacts to hunting, fishing, and harvesting—a way of life that is constitutionally protected yet increasingly at risk.
First Nations have traditionally managed land and water through methods that served them well for centuries. Practices like prescribed burns, land-based monitoring, and adaptive stewardship are still implemented in many regions today. These methods are well-aligned with climate adaptation science. However, many First Nations are without the jurisdiction and resources to implement these vital strategies.
Many of the resources available to First Nations for climate mitigation and adaptation are still accessed through the federal government’s Indigenous Services department based in Gatineau, Que. It’s a bureaucracy that struggles to be responsive, and is slow to match policy priorities with actual needs on the ground.
If the federal government is serious about its commitments to both climate and reconciliation, it will reposition itself, and allow First Nations to restore jurisdiction on matters related to climate mitigation and adaptation.
What does that look like? It starts with long-term funding for First Nations-led emergency preparedness and response. It means ensuring that federal resources are flowing directly to First Nations who carry the expertise to leverage long-standing climate mitigation and adaptation practices—ones that have proven to deliver results when it comes to reducing fires.
Governments should pass legislation to recognize First Nations jurisdiction on these matters. Practices like prescribed burns must be incorporated within federal and provincial strategies and leveraged not only for First Nations, but also for land across the country. Working with First Nations to develop and implement an Indigenous fire stewardship protocol could go a long way not only towards real reconciliation, but also to safeguarding our lands and resources from these growing wildfires.
Ottawa should also expand climate mitigation and adaptation responsibilities to First Nations through the guardians program, co-ordinated by the Indigenous Leadership Initiative (ILI). The guardians are known for their work monitoring and managing ecosystems within their respective territories. The ILI trains and supports First Nations experts to leverage both Indigenous knowledge and western science to oversee their territories, and manage and monitor wildlife, ecosystems, plants, cultural sites, and more. Doing so could reposition the climate management approach to one that is proactive, rather than reactive—ensuring that First Nations are leading, or at least a part of, the strategy development rather than being invited to react to climate crises after they’ve already struck.
After so much talk about resilience in the past five years, this is an opportunity to let those who carry the knowledge and expertise lead the country on land management and emergency response with the jurisdiction, tools, and resources they need to take on these big challenges.
Karen Restoule is director of Indigenous affairs and a senior fellow at the Macdonald-Laurier Institute, strategic adviser on complex public affairs issues, and Ojibwe from Dokis First Nation.