Residents must ‘be prepared for the worst’ this summer, says premier

On the back of a devastating 2023 wildfire season and with not much change in the 2024 forecast, the NWT’s premier says residents need to be ready for a worst-case scenario.

RJ Simpson’s comments came as the territory figures out how to review last year’s fire season – the worst on record – and steel itself for the one ahead.

Conditions across the NWT remain dry, with many areas in drought and records being set for low water along some rivers and lakes.

While four million hectares burned last summer, the territory and its forests are so large that many, many millions more hectares of fuel remain if 2024 is as bad as last year.

Communities like Fort Simpson have already voiced concern that decades without a nearby forest fire could mean they are next in line.

The NWT government has consistently stated that while its own preparations need to be reviewed and improved, residents are also responsible for ensuring their individual households are ready. That means having an emergency plan, packing a go bag, and having supplies to get you through 72 hours.

Increasingly, the advice is that now is the time to figure that stuff out.

“We all have a responsibility for ourselves to be prepared,” said Simpson, recalling his own experience when a wildfire triggered Hay River’s evacuation on August 13 last year.

“I woke up in the morning on August 13 and it was very windy, and I thought: ‘I need to pack a bag and I need to be ready to go.’ Because the government can have everything in place, but people need to react themselves,” the premier said.

“It is going to be a dry season, by all accounts. We’ve had barely any snow this year. I think people do need to be prepared for the worst.”

Know where you plan to go, know what you’re bringing and have a plan for pets, Simpson said, adding to the list of preparations.

Review ‘complete by fall’

The premier’s advice comes after regular MLAs endorsed a motion calling for a public inquiry into the territorial government’s handling of the 2023 wildfire season.

Some MLAs, Indigenous governments and residents contend that the territory’s own preparations last year were lacking and require a full public inquiry to best understand what went wrong and how to fix it.

Simpson has said his government will pursue reviews of its own first, carried out by independent contractors, then consider a public inquiry as a second stage if necessary.

Speaking with Cabin Radio on Monday, the premier said the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs’ review would ensure members of the public are heard.

“We’re going to have public meetings where people can get together and say their piece, and I’ve attended those types of meetings in Hay River after the flood,” he said, referring to 2022’s devastating flooding in the area.

“If they’re not willing to engage in a public forum like that, we have the opportunity for written feedback as well.”

Simpson said steps were being taken to “provide an avenue for anonymous feedback” so members of the public service or companies who do business with the GNWT can have their say without fear of damaging relations with an employer or key revenue source.

The premier said he expects Maca’s review to be complete and a report available to the public by the fall – perhaps October. “And if there are still any outstanding questions, then we’d have the opportunity to look at a public inquiry,” he said, “but it would be much more targeted and informed by that review.”

Simpson delayed a debate in the legislature on the topic of a public inquiry by two weeks to spend more time persuading regular MLAs that an inquiry wasn’t the best option.

Regular MLAs appeared unconvinced. All 10 who were present for last week’s debate still voted for a public inquiry, while all six cabinet members present opposed it. The motion was non-binding, meaning the government doesn’t have to order an inquiry as a result.

Asked why he had been unable to convince MLAs of his approach, Simpson said there had been a “lack of accurate information” flowing to his counterparts across the chamber.

“We’re still early in this government and we’re still trying to figure out how to work together as a cabinet and regular members,” he said.

“We tried our best to get that information out there.”