Minister of Indigenous Services Mandy Gull-Masty takes her seat for a news conference in Ottawa, Monday, March 30, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

By The Canadian Press

Northern Ontario First Nations not equipped to fight fires, says retired fire chief

Mar 31, 2026 | 11:24 AM

OTTAWA — A retired fire chief says First Nations’ firefighting operations in northern Ontario are being set up to fail and need better equipment and training from Indigenous Services Canada after three house fires ripped through Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug in less than a week, with one resulting in the death of a toddler.

Monique Belair worked for 39 years for Kingston Fire and Rescue and now works with a group of five northern Ontario First Nations, known as the Independent First Nations Alliance, to help with fire services and emergency preparedness.

She told The Canadian the severe lack of funding and proper equipment in the region is making attending fire calls unreasonably dangerous.

“My firefighters (weren’t) driving in a 40-year-old truck,” Belair said, nor were they relying on donations from fire departments in the province for equipment they’re no longer permitted to use because it is considered expired.

“The commitment of these people to keep coming out to call after call in the cold without the proper equipment is inspiring to me.”

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Belair told The Canadian Press when a house fire broke out last week in a northern Ontario First Nation, community members were unable to enter to attempt a rescue operation because they did not have the proper breathing equipment.

That fire took the life of Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug Chief Donny Morris’s three-year-old grandson and left two others with serious injuries.

The Independent First Nations Alliance, a group of five First Nations that includes Morris’s own community of Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug, filed a Canadian Human Rights Commission complaint in August 2025 alleging Indigenous Services Canada has systemically discriminated against their communities by underfunding on-reserve fire services.

The Independent First Nations Alliance says its case before the Canadian Human Rights Commission has been languishing since it was submitted, and it has not received updates from the commission since it asked for one nine weeks after submitting the complaint.

The Canadian Human Rights Commission told The Canadian Press last week it was “deeply saddened” to hear of the three-year-old dying, but that it could not comment about cases before it.

The commission said there is “a trend of turning to the complaints system under the Canadian Human Rights Act to address underfunding of services on reserve, often when requests for adequate funding have been ignored.”

The alliance has called on the federal auditor general to investigate the commission, and its lawyer, Julian Falconer, sent a letter to Karen Hogan last week asking for such.

In an emailed statement Tuesday, Auditor General Karen Hogan’s office said it has received the request from the First Nations to investigate the commission, but it “does not conduct investigations of the nature requested.”

“The (office) does consider requests for audits received from parliamentarians and the public. Audit selection is determined through a strategic, risk-based process that also takes into account our mandate, significance to parliamentarians and Canadians, planned audit work, and available resources,” wrote Natasha Leduc.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 31, 2026.

Alessia Passafiume, The Canadian Press