Chief calls on province to use emergency measures to free up Manitoba hotels
CBC
A First Nations chief is calling on the Manitoba government to use the Emergency Measures Act to free up hotel space in Winnipeg to help house thousands of wildfire evacuees.
Pimicikamak Cree Nation Chief David Monias wrote a letter to the provincial government Monday, imploring it to use emergency legislation to order hotels to prioritize accommodations for evacuees.
"This is about protecting lives, keeping families together and ensuring our people are not subjected to further trauma or indignity," Monias said in a statement.
A provincewide state of emergency was declared on May 28 after out-of-control wildfires led to the mandatory evacuations of Flin Flon, Pimicikamak Cree Nation and Mathias Colomb Cree Nation, also known as Pukatawagan.
Soon more evacuations were ordered — including Lynn Lake and Tataskwayak Cree Nation (Split Lake) — leaving more than 17,000 people potentially in need of shelter.
Over the weekend, First Nations leaders said hotels in Winnipeg and other major cities were largely booked up, forcing displaced families to live in congregate shelters in arenas and a soccer complex.
Shelters have been set up in Winnipeg, Thompson, Winkler and Portage la Prairie.
Under the Emergency Measures Act, a minister can "regulate the distribution and availability of essential goods, services and resources" if a state of emergency has been declared.
Monias also called for the cancellation or postponement of large, non-essential events occupying hotel space in the province.
While in Saskatchewan for a first ministers' conference, Premier Wab Kinew told reporters that 1,000 more hotel rooms were "coming online."
"Nobody wants to sleep on a cot for more than a day or two, even in an emergency situation," Kinew told a news conference in Saskatoon.
A spokesperson later clarified that Kinew was referencing hotel rooms becoming available over the next few days that the government will work to book through the Canadian Red Cross.
A spokesperson for Lisa Naylor, the minister responsible for emergency measures organization, did not address the request by Monias to use the Emergency Measures Act.
"Manitoba is working with the Manitoba Hotel Association to assess how many vacancies can be expected whether it will meet Manitoba's needs, as wildfire dynamics shift," she wrote in an emailed statement.
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