Grad ceremony for Indigenous-led emergency training
Remote First Nations communities often experience emergencies that require evacuation, such as flooding and forest fires.
So, the Missinabie Cree First Nation has implemented a training program to allow Indigenous communities to coordinate their own emergency response.
This week, a new group of graduates completed the program.
"We had 21 graduates last year and today I think we have 35 that will be walking out of the room with their certificates, bringing back these incredible tools to their own communities and applying them in their own home,” said Missinabie Cree First Nation Deputy Chief Jutta Horn.
The training is made possible through Indigenous Services Canada and ISN Maskwa, an Indigenous emergency operations centre. Graduates learned what constitutes an emergency, the different components of emergency management and how to respond to incidents.
"Empowering communities so that we can support one another,” said Mike Charles, unified incident commander for ISN Maskwa.
“And it's an initiative that I think is long overdue and I think will be a great benefit, not only to the Indigenous communities, but the north as a whole."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Air travel is expensive. WestJet wants the government to do more to change that
WestJet is asking the federal government to put measures in place to lower ticket costs for travellers, but questions remain on who would foot the bill.
Dangerous brew: Ocean heat and La Nina combo likely mean more Atlantic hurricanes this summer
Get ready for what nearly all the experts think will be one of the busiest Atlantic hurricane seasons on record, thanks to unprecedented ocean heat and a brewing La Nina.
'Looking over our shoulders': A killing looms large in a little B.C. town
Something shifted in the pretty little village of Lumby, B.C., after Tatjana Stefanski vanished.
Officer who arrested Scottie Scheffler is being disciplined for not having bodycam activated
The Kentucky police officer who arrested top-ranked golfer Scottie Scheffler outside the PGA Championship is receiving “corrective action” for failing to have his body-worn camera activated.
Hundreds have applied for this 'adventurer' job in Banff National Park
Coined as Banff's 'ultimate summer job,' the Moraine Lake Bus Company says hundreds of people from across the world have applied for its adventurer position.
Potential tornado 'surreal' for residents who witnessed damaging storm in southern Ontario
Witnessing a potential tornado was 'surreal' for residents who caught a glimpse of the damaging storm in southern Ontario on Wednesday night.
Jennifer Lopez's response to question about Ben Affleck is a reminder of their decades of love in the spotlight
Plenty of people are wondering if Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck are having problems in their marriage, but one person had the nerve to ask in a public forum.
Was this the bug that stung you? Wasp sightings revive murder-hornet concerns; no detections confirmed
As temperatures rise out of a mild El Nino winter, Canada's buggy season is already upon us again, and this year, the bugs are looking especially big.
New bill would let Canadians pass citizenship rights down to children born abroad
A new government bill tabled in the House of Commons on Thursday would allow Canadians to pass citizenship rights down to their children born outside the country — a move that would add an unknown number of new citizens.