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ā€˜Business as usual is not going to cut itā€™: Niki Ashton on fedsā€™ economic update and wildfires

People look at clouds of wildfire smoke in the background from a parking lot in Fort MacMurray
Image by Jason Woodhead.
Published: 30 November 2023

As the ash settles on Canadaā€™s record wildfire season, ā€œbusiness as usual from the federal government is not going to cut it,ā€ NDP MP Niki Ashton .

Last year, theĀ Ā a scathingĀ Ā highlighting the failure of Indigenous Services Canada (ISC) to prepare robust emergency management plans for First Nations. The audit noted ISCā€™s regional emergency plans were absent or outdated and no risk assessment had been done on the hardest hit nations, even after an earlier 2013 audit called for one. The department also spent three and a half times more on responding to emergencies than it did preparing for and preventing them over the previous three years, the audit found.

Climate change does not impact people in the same way, said ±«ÓćÖ±²„ climate researcherĀ Mohammad Reza Alizadeh. Alizadeh said in an that his research shows Indigenous peoples have fewer resources and less robust infrastructure than non-Indigenous communities and are impacted by climate disasters at a higher rate.

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