Yellowknife better prepared to safely evacuate unhoused population, say advocates
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Advocates say Yellowknife is better prepared to help its unhoused population evacuate if there is a wildfire evacuation like in 2023.
“Everybody seems a little more confident than they were even a year ago,” said Tony Brushett, executive director at The Salvation Army in Yellowknife.
During the 2023 evacuations, many unhoused people found themselves in larger cities, closer to drugs and without proper medications, Brushett said.
He recalled being told by a member of the territorial government in 2023 “to just let them go on their own.”
“They’re part of the general public,” he said they told him. “We’re not responsible for them.”
That he says wasn’t the right move.
“The lesson learned there is we will take responsibility for them,” he says. “We will make sure that we can take them to the airport, get them on that charter flight and get them somewhere safe.”
Brushett said his organization made an arrangement with one of the mining camps just outside of Fort McMurray to temporarily house Salvation Army’s clients and staff.
“So they’re not caught up in the big city — which unfortunately means they’re caught up in the areas with the drug deal[s] and everything else.”
Fear of refusal
Brushett worries that the 2023 experience has left some of his clients unwilling to evacuate if there was a need.
“We’re telling them very clearly that if we get a government mandate to evacuate, we will be closing down our shelter,” he said. “So we will be reaching out to you. We will be giving you every opportunity to fly out with us.”
Brushett says his organization’s current evacuation plans would benefit greatly if the territorial government gives them advance notice of a likely evacuation.
“We’ve asked … if a select few of us could know, you know, 72 hours in advance,” he said.
Extra time would help the Salvation Army’s staff gather medical supplies and prepare clients for the emotional weight of the transition.
“When you’re dealing with anybody, but especially the vulnerable population, you have to realize there’s often a lot of mental health issues we’re dealing with,” he said.
CBC contacted NWT Fire for comment about providing advance notification of evacuations, but received no reply by deadline.
According to a 2024 point-in-time count, there were 327 unhoused persons in Yellowknife. Brushett says the real number is likely higher.
“A lot of people get missed in those counts because it’s a rather quick count over a short period of time,” he said.
Importance of gender based lens planning
Arlene Hache, a community advocate working with the Yellowknife Women’s Society, says their emergency preparedness plan also includes a detailed “gender lens” to ensure that gender-specific needs are met during evacuations.
When responders are unaware of those distinct vulnerabilities, they can unintentionally cause harm, she said.
“For example, women in particular — especially Indigenous women — when they’re evacuated into big cities or regional centres, [are] quite often are exposed to predatory behavior from outsiders, from people from that bigger place,” she said.
Hache says her organization is also working to train residents to participate in emergency preparedness and offer peer support during evacuations.
“I find that elders are treated as people who need support during emergencies, but they’re rarely identified as an incredible strength to offer support during emergencies,” she said.
Canada: Q & A | N.W.T. adding 5th rating to fire danger level ahead of wildfire season, CBC News
Finland: Wildfires continue to burn across Lapland, Yle News
Norway: Smoke from Canadian wildfires forecast to reach Norway, The Associated Press
Russia: New NOAA report finds vast Siberian wildfires linked to Arctic warming, The Associated Press
Sweden: High risk of wildfires in many parts of Sweden, including North, Radio Sweden
United States: Wildfires in Anchorage? Climate change sparks disaster fears, The Associated Press
