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."