Indigenous Services Minister Mandy Gull-Masty made an announcement last month of $55.6-million in “new” funding for the Emergency Management Assistance Program. 

But if the funding is for an existing program that everybody knows must continue, then it shouldn’t be called “new”. It’s really a crucially late announcement that the funding will continue on April 1. 

Every time Indigenous Services Canada (ISC) makes an eye-watering multi-million-dollar announcement, it seems like great news and a cause for celebration. But let’s pause and review.

There are 630-some First Nations communities, so each funding pot will be spread out so widely that it begs the question if it’s really enough money. 

If the Emergency Management Assistance Program supports emergency planning in every community, then there is even less available to support the communities that are facing emergencies in real time. 

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GC-Infobase, which details departmental spending, states ISC spent $595.19-million in 2023-2024, and $678.73-million in 2024-25 responding to emergencies. 

But get this: the planned spending for this program in 2026-2027 is $111.16-million. 

So, the March 26 announcement from ISC about a brand-spanking new $55.6-million for emergency response is either existing funds because this program must obviously continue, or some new funding because the department knows it doesn’t have enough ready for emergencies. 

Either way, this is an insulting amount that doesn’t even close the gaps for the current costs, much less those that will come up in the future. 

It’s important to keep in mind that the Earth is changing drastically—so much so that multinational insurance companies worry that the old models of insurance won’t be realistic in the very near future. 

Here’s the backdrop to keep it all real. The 2021 fire in Lytton, B.C., destroyed the village, 45 homes, and the band office of the Lytton First Nation. This one fire has racked up costs of over $100-million, according to the Insurance Bureau of Canada. 

In 2025, 73 First Nations were forced to evacuate due to wildfires. This impacted 45,000 First Nations people, which is more than half of the 85,000 people in Canada overall who were evacuated by wildfires. 

Some called that year “unprecedented.” Well, here’s a scary thought. It was unprecedented, and it was also the harbinger of the new world. 

In 2025, more than 6,000 wildfires burned off land in Canada. Our only saving grace is that so few communities relative to the size of the country were impacted. 

When ISC makes announcements about funding, some thought is required to consider if the needs are actually being met. 

If the funding is meant to uphold reconciliation, then it must be about closing the gaps. This cannot be stressed enough. 

Canada has said it’s committed. So, walk the talk in covering the safety needs today for Indigenous Peoples.

The whole point of reconciliation is to serve Indigenous Peoples as if we’re real citizens. Every single time that Indigenous Peoples are underserved, it is unethical and probably illegal.

How about we don’t wait for the courts to intervene—as is now clearly the trend— to ensure that the feds are compelled to pay compensation for inequitable funding? 

The fire and the flood, all in one year. First Nations Elders and chiefs say that the Earth is speaking to us, and it seems we have not heard the message. Mother Earth is shifting because of human impact. Climate change is already an existential threat to infrastructure, communities, and our sense of safety. Perhaps the federal government might reflect this in its budgets. 

Rose LeMay is Tlingit from the West Coast and the CEO of the Indigenous Reconciliation Group. She writes twice a month about Indigenous inclusion and reconciliation. In Tlingit worldview, the stories are the knowledge system, sometimes told through myth and sometimes contradicting the myths told by others. But always with at least some truth.

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