Premier leaves door open for wildfire inquiry after reviews finish

The NWT’s premier says he’s prepared to consider holding a public inquiry into last year’s wildfire season – if it’s thought necessary after existing reviews are complete.

In a statement to Cabin Radio, Premier RJ Simpson’s office said a review established by the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs would be its focus in the months ahead.

Simpson briefly mentioned the possibility of a post-review inquiry while speaking during Thursday’s debate, but gave that prospect more force in a Friday statement.

Regular MLAs issued a statement of their own on Friday expressing “disappointment” in cabinet’s approach to a public inquiry. Regular MLAs outvoted cabinet on Thursday in calling for an inquiry establishment order to be drafted.

A request for proposals to find a contractor for Maca’s review has been delayed, but is expected to be issued next week. (The Department of Environment and Climate Change has a separate review under way that focuses on wildfire management.)

The GNWT says Maca’s review “is intended to be a comprehensive review that will provide opportunities for public feedback and engagement with Indigenous and community governments” among others.

The contractor hired to carry out that review will be expected to assess the GNWT’s emergency response, analyze the outcomes “and recommend changes and updates to existing plans and processes.”

Specifically, the GNWT said it wants the review to look into the following:

• territorial, regional, municipal and NGO preparedness levels;
• preparedness for evacuation of members of the public
• understanding of roles and responsibilities during activation of community government emergency plans;
• understanding risk;
• response activities;
• role of communications to the public;
• GNWT risk communications (before, during and after); and
• successes, challenges, gaps and lessons learned.

So far, there’s no public time frame for that review to be complete.

Whenever the review does finish, “we will engage with the public, MLAs and Indigenous governments to identify whether we will move forward with a public inquiry,” Simpson’s office stated.

The Tłı̨chǫ Government and Dene Nation have previously called for a public inquiry into the 2023 fire season, during which more than two-thirds of NWT residents were at least temporarily displaced and some four million hectares of the territory burned.

“Indigenous governments will be engaged … through targeted group interviews, surveys, and written submissions,” Simpson’s office said of the Maca review. His office said the Council of Leaders had been consulted on the review’s request for proposals.

‘More collaborative’ tone

In a vote on Thursday, 10 regular MLAs backed a public inquiry. Six cabinet members opposed it. (One minister and one regular MLA were away.)

In the legislature on Friday morning, Simpson – responding to questions from Frame Lake MLA Julian Morse – said he did not intend to ignore the outcome of that vote.

“I have a responsibility, when the House brings forward a motion and recommendations, to carefully consider those,” the premier said.

“I also have a responsibility to ensure that we are operating the government in a responsible manner.”

Simpson told Morse his government plans to go ahead and draft an inquiry establishment order, even if it doesn’t want to use such an order – at least, not until other reviews are complete.

“In terms of the draft, the order related to the public inquiry, the motion called for collaboration with AOC on that,” Simpson said, referring to the Standing Committee on Accountability and Oversight that includes all of the NWT’s regular MLAs, as Morse asked him how the government would be transparent about its review process.

“I’m happy to have that discussion [about government transparency] as we work on that order,” Simpson said.

Morse said the premier seemed to be striking “more of a collaborative tone” on Friday than he had a day earlier.

That said, regular MLAs still issued a joint news release on Friday afternoon stating in part: “Committee welcomes the reviews currently taking place but disagrees with cabinet that a public inquiry would not be flexible or support the territory in their efforts to improve the territory’s emergency management system.

“Members reiterate that the review of the events of summer 2023 must be independent and public. The public needs to understand what the government is looking at and feel comfortable in providing their feedback during that process.”

Regular MLAs said they “will be seeking a meeting with the premier to further discuss next steps and expectations in these reviews, in hopes of finding a shared path forward together.”