First Nations slam Ontario’s lack of commitment to publicly review wildfire response

TORONTO — First Nations leaders condemned Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s government for its lack of commitment to hold a public inquiry on the devastating wildfires in the northwest, or even release the province’s debrief.

In calling for a public inquiry, First Nations have said the province failed to warn them in advance of several fast-moving fires, which destroyed two communities, and that communication with the province have been poor to non-existent.

Several First Nation chiefs told a press conference at Queen’s Park on Thursday they are not getting answers from the premier, Natural Resources Minister Mike Harris, Emergency Preparedness Minister Jill Dunlop or Indigenous Affairs Minister Greg Rickford.

During an update on the wildfire situation hours earlier, Harris sidestepped questions about holding a public inquiry. He said the province will do a review, like it does every year, but said that may also not become public.

“We do a very deep dive internally, and I think there’ll be lots of recommendations that will come forward and at the time, we’ll see what makes sense to talk about,” Harris said.

The minister said the situation has improved, with more than 80 fires extinguished in the past two weeks. He said 159 wildfires are still raging, with 30 burning out of control.

Harris characterized this year’s wildfire season as unprecedented, but said the tide appears to be turning.

“We’ve had a fire season in the last two weeks like we’ve never seen before,” he said at a news conference. “Thankfully, things are calming down now. They’re getting back to normal, and we’re able to manage the situation a lot better.”

He said he hoped this was a one-off fire season.

“You can’t predict what things are going to look like as you move forward, but obviously we’ve seen the northwest be a little bit drier over the last couple of years,” he said. “We’ve seen temperatures increase.”

But several First Nation leaders said the government has downplayed its own mistakes in dealing with the fires.

“That’s why we need a public inquiry,” said Chief Merle Loon of the Mishkeegogamang Ojibway Nation.

“There are questions that need to be answered,” said Deputy Grand Chief Mike Metatawabin of Nishnawbe Aski Nation, which represents 49 First Nations in northern Ontario.

Chief Pauline Drake of Whitewater First Nation, which was largely destroyed by fire, said she has a heavy heart.

“Wildfires that swept across our region have changed my community,” she said. “It’s gone, we have to start from scratch.”

Drake said bush pilots told the community they spotted a fire on July 8. She said she heard nothing from the province for a week, but with the help of those pilots, they began to plan to leave.

She said the province finally contacted them on July 15.

“There wasn’t a warning really, they just told us that day, ‘Get everybody out,'” Drake said. “But thank God that we already had a preplanned flight.”

Everyone got out, but the wildfire ripped through the remote community.

“We can rebuild, but it’s going to take time,” she said. “It took over 30 years to build what we had, and it’s going to take another 30 years because we are a remote location, we are based solely on float planes to get there, to get the supplies up there and the tools and everything that we need.”

Cat Lake First Nation Chief Russell Wesley, whose community was also evacuated, believes the time has come for a First Nations-led wildfire authority.

“First Nations would share jurisdictions alongside federal and provincial agencies,” Russell suggested at the press conference.

He also pushed for improved evacuation strategies, better communication and stable, multi-year preparedness funding. Currently, the province budgets about $150 million, but usually blows past that once wildfire season is over.

Wesley also suggested Indigenous fire stewardship programs that include prescribed burning as part of a broader provincial fire management preventive program.

The wildfires have sent thousands of people from mostly First Nation communities fleeing from their homes and released clouds of smoke that drifted across southern Ontario and parts of the United States. Early estimates suggest the flames have ravaged more of the province’s forests this season than any previous year on record.

Harris said more than 150 Ontario fire crews are working to suppress the flames, aided by recent rainy cool weather and the arrival of crews from Prince Edward Island and more than 100 firefighters from Mexico earlier this week.

Emergency Preparedness Minister Jill Dunlop said 14 communities have evacuated due to the wildfires, though five have now returned home and another community is in the process of returning.

More than 2,000 people remain displaced from their communities, she said.

Harris added the province is looking at things it can “not necessarily do better, but do differently” for the next wildfire season, including how to monitor wildfires and warn threatened communities as quickly as possible, as well as ways to proactively protect infrastructure in evacuated areas.

Namaygoosisagagun First Nation, also known as Collins First Nation, was also razed by wildfire. Harris has previously said that fire spread so fast it was only spotted once it was at the community’s doorstep.

At Thursday’s press conference, the minister reiterated his defence of the government’s wildfire response, saying the province is sparing no expense to protect Ontarians and there has so far been no loss of life due to the fires.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 30, 2026.

Kathryn Mannie and Liam Casey, The Canadian Press