The failed effort to properly support evacuees and the communities they were moved to for months is laid bare in a review report released last week by MNP. In the report, on page 62, it states clear that, “...host communities frequently received little notice of incoming evacuees, leaving these communities underprepared and forced into reactive decision-making."
The report also notes a lack of coordination from the Sask. Party with organizations like the Red Cross.
“Let’s be clear, people fled horrifying chaos as fires ripped through their communities — and what they found down the highway was more chaos as a direct result of failings by Scott Moe, his Minister and the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency they oversee,” Beck said. “The report into this mess makes it clear that the province was ill-prepared on many fronts despite obvious warning signs of increasing fire activity in years prior.
“People in Prince Albert stepped up to help their neighbours and there were incredible people on the frontlines that did all they could to protect communities — this was a failure by senior SPSA leadership, the Minister and Scott Moe himself.”
All of East Trout Lake burned to the ground as did two-thirds of Denare Beach. Evacuees were found to be sleeping in their cars for days, support payments materialized months late or not at all and people were relocated over and over, adding immense stress while they feared for their communities in the North.
Beck reiterated the calls her team has been making since the report was released.
“I am demanding Scott Moe face the people of East Trout Lake, Denare Beach himself and apologize,” Beck said. “I’m calling on him to fire the Minister responsible, Tim McLeod, and to immediately pass The Wildfire Strategy Act introduced by Athabasca MLA Leroy Laliberte to ensure people in the North have a say in fire management moving forward.
“We can never let such an atrocious response to an emergency like this happen again. It’s time for change.”
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