Latest news with #DeerLakeFirstNation
CTV News
26-07-2025
- CTV News
Police watchdog investigating after man killed during arrest in Deer Lake First Nation
Ontario's police watchdog says it is investigating after a police officer in Deer Lake First Nation shot and killed a 40-year-old man on Tuesday afternoon. A Special Investigations Unit logo is seen on a truck on April 24, 2025. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Arlyn McAdorey) Ontario's police watchdog says it is investigating after a police officer in Deer Lake First Nation shot and killed a 40-year-old man on Tuesday afternoon. The Special Investigations Unit says officers from the Nishnawbe Aski Police Service had a warrant to arrest the man at a residence in the community about 580 kilometres north of Thunder Bay. The SIU says its first public release about the shooting incorrectly stated the man fled from the house. In an update on Friday, it says the man exited the home and approached officers. The SIU says one of the officers shot the man, and the man was taken to a nursing station where he was pronounced dead. It says a post-mortem examination was scheduled to be conducted Friday in Toronto, and investigators were sent to the community to investigate. This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 25, 2025.
CBC
12-07-2025
- Climate
- CBC
Sandy Lake repatriation efforts beginning Friday, First Nation says
Efforts to repatriate members of Sandy Lake First Nation are set to begin this Friday. The efforts could take up to two weeks to complete, according to a Facebook post by the First Nation's communications team. More than 2,000 members of the community were forced to evacuate last month as northwestern Ontario's largest wildfire, Red Lake 12, encroached on the First Nation. The fire has spread across 195,670 hectares as of Tuesday, according to Ontario's Aviation, Forest Fire and Emergency Services. Evacuees were airlifted by the Canadian Armed Forces to Thunder Bay, and then on to several host locations across Ontario, including Cornwall, Mississauga and Kapuskasing. The Red Lake 12 fire also forced an additional 885 members of the Deer Lake First Nation to evacuate to Toronto. Efforts to return them to Deer Lake began last Friday. Repatriation efforts commence Friday Sandy Lake First Nation said that that security and essential service providers will be the first to return to the community as repatriation efforts commence Friday evening. For the rest of the community, efforts to return home will likely happen in the reverse order from which community members were evacuated, with elders, infants and those with high risk medical needs returning in the later stages of the repatriation. The First Nation says that lists with flight arrangements will be prepared for each host location once further details are confirmed. Aviation, Forest Fire and Emergency Services says growth in the blaze's western and northwestern areas has forced the department to remap the wildfire. Fires still burning Fire behaviour lowered over the weekend, as an estimated 25 to 35 millimetres of rain fell over Red Lake 12, said Ontario's Aviation, Forest Fire and Emergency Services in a release Wednesday. Despite 23 firefighting crews and 12 helicopters fighting the blaze's eastern and southern perimeters, officials said the fire is still not under control. In areas where the wildfire has slowed, crews have begun demobilizing equipment including pumps and hoses, it said. Red Lake 12 is one of 34 wildfires currently active across Northwestern of them are still not under control. As of Tuesday, four new fires were reported in the region, including Red Lake 57. Its burning approximately 71 kilometres west of Cat Lake First Nation and is not under control.
CBC
27-06-2025
- General
- CBC
Over 800 Deer Lake First Nation wildfire evacuees returning home after weeks in Toronto
Social Sharing A month after being displaced by the region's largest wildfire, hundreds of evacuees from Deer Lake First Nation in northwestern Ontario are returning home. The first plane out of Toronto, where roughly 885 people have been staying for the past four weeks, left on Friday, Chief Leonard Mamakeesic told CBC News. The community is first bringing back its essential workers, who will then be able to prepare the First Nation for the large-scale repatriation of the rest of its members. "Everybody's happy, right? Everybody wants to go home. It's really exhausting here. They want to be able to sleep in their own home," said Deer Lake's head councillor, Jeremy Sawanis. "It's so noisy in Toronto, too." The remote Oji-Cree community, located in Treaty 5 territory, is about 600 kilometres northwest of Thunder Bay. It's only accessible by air or winter road. Its evacuation was prompted by Red Lake 12, a wildfire that's now more than 194,000 hectares in size. However, the fire is moving away from the community, and crews are starting to take down the sprinkler systems that have been protecting the First Nation's homes and essential infrastructure. For Sawanis, being in Toronto has been a big culture shock. "I spend my whole time out in the bush, right? This just gets depressing after a while," he said. "I should be out fishing and hunting, [I] need to be on the land." Meanwhile, more than 2,000 evacuees from Sandy Lake First Nation remain in communities in southern Ontario, also because of Red Lake 12. Its evacuation was assisted by the Canadian Armed Forces earlier in June. Mamakeesic hopes all of his community members will be back in Deer Lake by Tuesday. There's been high demand for planes over the last few days, with members of Keewaywin First Nation also returning home, which pushed Deer Lake's repatriation back a day or two, he said. "Everybody is still with us. We have not lost anybody," Mamakeesic said. "That is my main goal — get everybody back home safe." 'People do care' Earlier this week, fire information officer Alison Bezubiak of Aviation, Forest Fire and Emergency Services (AFFES) told CBC News that recent rainfall and cooler temperatures have offered reprieve to FireRangers on the front lines. However, as the weather has been warming up over the last couple days, the wildland fire hazard has worsened, and is considered primarily moderate across the southern half of the region and high across the Far North. "More rainfall is expected over the weekend into Tuesday," Ontario Forest Fires said in its latest update, on Thursday evening. Since the evacuation began, Mamakeesic said, he's learned three key lessons: patience, the importance of working together and the value of communication. He's been satisfied with the accommodations provided in Toronto and the security services offered by ISN Maskwa, an Indigenous emergency operations centre, which were supplemented by his own members, he said. "[I have] gratitude for all the patience and people that have reached out to help us. There are surrounding tribal councils that have reached out, the Lions Club as well, and there's people that have reached out [from] surrounding organizations as well — they're dropping off donations," Mamakeesic said. "People do care."
CBC
25-06-2025
- Climate
- CBC
After weeks of escalation, rainfall has reduced wildfire hazards across northwestern Ontario
Social Sharing Recent rainfall has reduced the wildfire hazard across northwestern Ontario, though the region's largest wildfire is now more than 194,000 hectares large. Red Lake 12 — the fire that has forced community evacuations in Deer Lake First Nation and Sandy Lake First Nation — remains not under control. However, precipitation and cooler temperatures have given FireRangers more breathing room over the past few days and have also reduced smoke levels. "The impact of the recent precipitation is expected to keep fire behaviour minimal over the next few days," fire information officer Alison Bezubiak of Aviation, Forest Fire and Emergency Services (AFFES) told CBC News on Tuesday. However, thunderstorms this past weekend have created the potential for holdover fires caused by lightning, which crews will be monitoring over the next week, she said. "Holdover fires can remain undetected and may not become visible until conditions dry out, winds increase and temperatures rise, sometimes surfacing more than a week after the initial strike," Bezubiak said. Red Lake 12 has 23 firefighting crews assigned to three divisions on the fire's south and eastern perimeters, supported by 18 helicopters, including four heavy helicopters with increased bucketing capacity, Ontario Forest Fires said in its latest update. As of Tuesday night, there were two dozen wildfires in the northwest, though only four were considered not under control. These include Sioux Lookout 18 near Cat Lake First Nation, which is more than 23,000 hectares large. "An incident management team is assigned to this wildland fire, as well as 10 FireRanger crews and five helicopters," Ontario Forest Fires said. "Conditions are expected to continue drying gradually throughout the week." Nipigon 5, the 10,800-hectare wildfire that prompted Webequie First Nation's evacuation, is now being held, and evacuees are back home. Fire suppression gains made in Kenora area Crews have made significant headway in the Kenora fire management sector, as a fire known as Kenora 14 was officially called out on Monday. Other fires, Kenora 20 and Kenora 32, are now both under control as of Tuesday, Bezubiak said. "Kenora 14 and Kenora 20 in particular were challenging fires in challenging locations. We commend the hundreds of firefighting personnel, overhead staff, flight crew, support staff, the incident management teams, everybody who dedicated their time and expertise to bringing these fires to their current status, which was also helped along by that recent rainfall," she said. With summer officially here and festivities such as Canada Day coming up, Bezubiak said it's important for people to abide by outdoor burning regulations to prevent the spread of human-caused fires. "We encourage anybody who's planning to celebrate Canada Day with fireworks to exercise extreme caution and consider attending an organized fireworks venue instead of setting off your own inside Ontario's fire region," she said. For example, people can be charged under the Forest Fires Prevention Act for their part in wildfires caused by hot residue from fireworks. "It is extremely important to extinguish any residue after setting off fireworks. It's also important to check with your local municipality, as they may have local burn bans or burn bylaws that prohibit the use of fireworks within municipalities," Bezubiak said. Those planning to light a campfire are also reminded to "build your fire on rock or bare soil to prevent it from spreading, keep it small and fully extinguish it with water when you're done," she said.
Globe and Mail
20-06-2025
- General
- Globe and Mail
Northern Ontario wildfire evacuees get used to life – and the food
Claudia Linklater sits at the stovetop range in the kitchenette of her west Toronto hotel room, opening and pouring cans of tomato soup into a big stockpot full of rice and ground beef soup. 'It has to be Campbell's,' she says about the specific brand of soup that her fellow community members prefer. The mother and grandmother from Sandy Lake First Nation is one of about 2,000 wildfire evacuees forced out of the fly-in community over 1,000 kilometres away in the remote dense boreal forest of Northern Ontario. About 400 evacuees from Sandy Lake have been displaced in a cluster of four Mississauga hotels since June 7. And approximately 800 evacuees from nearby Deer Lake First Nation are in a different cluster of hotels in the GTA. Ms. Linklater's room is one of the few equipped with a kitchenette. She's taking advantage by preparing home cooked meals palatable to the homesick tastebuds of the remote north. Two large plastic bins full of prepared bannock dough – one plain and one raisin – made by another Sandy Laker get delivered to Ms. Linklater's room for frying. The bannock and soup is a taste of home, a welcome distraction from the uncertainty of when Ms. Linklater and thousands of others can return. The mother of four will continue to prepare homemade meals for her fellow evacuees using donations to get the groceries needed, inspired by her late grandmother who used to cook for others. 'She would try to feed as many people with what she had,' Ms. Linklater said. Deer Lake First Nation was fully evacuated about a week before Sandy Lake, by the same fire that threatened Deer Lake's airport, the wind spreading it at rapid speeds toward Sandy Lake about 70 kilometres away. The fire, measuring 183,000 hectares, is still considered out of control by the fire officials. It's destroyed traditional hunting camps and electric infrastructure but has spared major damage to the communities or homes. In a makeshift 'band office' on the second floor of another hotel, Deer Lake First Nation Chief Leonard Mamakeesic sits at a large table with his band councillors for their regular evacuation update call with joint emergency management partners of about 80 people. According to the Joint Emergency Management Steering Committee evacuation standards manual obtained by The Globe, 'when a First Nation community notifies the Provincial Emergency Operations Centre (PEOC) of their emergency situation and requests an evacuation due to an emergency, the PEOC in partnership with the requesting community, involved tribal council, other Indigenous partners, provincial ministries, and federal departments will coordinate the preparation for and conduct of a safe evacuation.' On this particular morning, however, the call is cut short before an update could be provided when those on the other end learn that MPP Sol Mamakwa and Ontario legislature speaker Donna Skelly are present, as invited guests of Deer Lake. Moments prior, The Globe and Mail was also asked to leave the virtual meeting after being invited by Mr. Mamakeesic. Ms. Skelly said in an interview she was disappointed about the dropped call and would be speaking with the ministers of emergency preparedness and response and natural resources. 'I think they have a right to hear the latest on the fire in their community, and whether or not there's a plan moving forward to get them back home, or whether they still have to wait to get the fire under control.' The Conservative MPP, who removed Mr. Mamakwa from the legislature earlier this month for unparliamentary language, said her visit with the Deer Lake leadership and evacuees is part of her efforts to connect with the north. '[Sol and I] have, I think, a common goal to do as much as we can for people, not just in Toronto. That's my problem with politics in Ontario, it's so Toronto focused,' she told The Globe. Ms. Skelly said she was glad to see the evacuees settling in but empathized with the challenges of being so far from home. 'Keeping people together is important, but also how anxious it must be and how much you would want to go back. I'd be bored to tears,' Ms. Skelly said. Sitting outside the hotel on a bench with other Deer Lake evacuees on a humid day, Gordy Meekis finishes his cigarette. 'I miss my boat,' he said. 'I'd rather be in the bush than out here.' Life in the hotels isn't a vacation for the evacuees. Many are put to work for their communities and with provincial officials who oversee logistics and planning. Safety and social issues are a priority for leaders like Mr. Mamakeesic and farther distances from home in large urban cities such as the GTA, where many have never been, add to vulnerabilities. The communities implement their own measures such as nightly curfews and prohibiting alcohol and drugs in hotel rooms, with some success. Emergency operations companies are often contracted by Indigenous Services Canada to act as host sites for evacuees, providing 24-hour wraparound services. Paul Syrette, the director of operations for ISN Maskwa, an Indigenous emergency operations, said it's a responsibility they take seriously. 'If there's anything that is the biggest and most important piece of taking care of the folks when they arrive at the host locations, is health,' Mr. Syrette said. Opinion: As northern Canada burns, southern Canada makes climate change worse In some cases the evacuation has been a blessing in disguise. One evacuee from Deer Lake with an already diagnosed brain aneurysm was able to get immediate medical treatment that likely saved his life, Mr. Mamakeesic said. That's a luxury not afforded back home where access to a hospital and doctor can take several hours, sometimes days, and where the only way out is by plane. 'If he was in Deer Lake, I don't think he would've survived,' Mr. Mamakeesic told Mr. Mamakwa and Ms. Skelly in their meeting. Vice-principal of the Sandy Lake elementary school Glenn Soriano and 15 other Filipino educators working in Sandy Lake were among the first to be evacuated. Many of them already had homes in the GTA where they could return. The group cooked and delivered traditional Filipino dishes and 'rez' favourite Kraft Dinner with hot dogs to their fellow community members. 'This is one way of showing our appreciation to how they treat us over there. We are treated as the same as the community members,' Mr. Soriano said about his experience living and working in Sandy Lake for the past five years.
