Preface: Historical context and present-day realities

Kate Forget and Aliesha Arndt
Ministry of the Attorney General – Indigenous Justice Division

This brief context section by no means reflects all of Canada’s attempts to eradicate and assimilate Indigenous Peoples. Instead, this section is meant to provide some context and understanding as to how and why First Nations communities are disproportionately impacted by fatal fires.

History

For over 100 years, Canada has used law and policy to target Indigenous Nations in an attempt to “eliminate [I]ndigenous governments; ignore Indigenous rights; terminate the Treaties; and, through a process of assimilation, cause Indigenous Peoples to cease to exist as distinct legal, social, cultural, religious and racial entities in Canada.”^{footnote 1[1]}

Arguably the most devastating vehicle through which this was attempted was by severing ties to land and, in so doing, severing ties to history, culture, identity and belonging. The separation of Indigenous Peoples from ancestral lands and forcible confinement to reserve lands held in trust by the Crown was, in some parts of the country, made possible through the negotiation of treaties. While the treaty making process appeared to be honourable and conducted under proper legal authority, it was often “marked by fraud and coercion.”^{footnote 2[2]}  In other parts of the country, land was simply seized without consent.

Alongside these efforts to remove Indigenous Peoples from the land, came forced processes of assimilation that were carried out through several legislated and non-legislated methods. These included the Indian Residential School system, the 60’s scoop and the millennium scoop.

It is critical to recognize that this history continues to have lasting impacts and many Indigenous people still carry the harmful legacies of this past. While reviewing the contents of this report, it is essential to understand Canada’s dark history and the intergenerational trauma that continues to be experienced by Indigenous communities as a direct result of Canada’s attempts at colonization and forced assimilation.

Jurisdictional neglect

The complexities of many of the issues raised in this section and report can be traced back to the fact that provincial and federal governments have overlapping jurisdiction when it comes to services for Indigenous people under the Canadian Constitution.

Under the Constitution, the federal government is authorized to govern “Indians and Lands reserved for Indians” and does so through a piece of federal legislation called the Indian Act. This means that the federal government is responsible for delivering services on-reserve that are otherwise delivered by Provinces off-reserve. As a result, disputes between federal and provincial governments over their respective jurisdictions has contributed to chronic underfunding and fragmented and inadequate services being delivered to Indigenous communities.^{footnote 3[3]}

“Jurisdictional neglect” occurs when groups or individuals might “fall through the cracks” due to a lack of interjurisdictional cooperation.^{footnote 4[4]} An example of this is drinking and waste-water facilities, which provincial and territorial governments are generally responsible for. However, provincial and territorial governments can claim that their jurisdiction does not extend to reserve lands, which are a federal responsibility. While the federal government committed in its 2016 budget to ensure that First Nations’ have access to clean drinking water, there are still communities in Ontario and across Canada who do not enjoy this right as non-Indigenous people do.^{footnote 5[5]}  The example of access to clean water and water facilities is critical to this report when considering how this may impact a community’s ability to respond to a fire.

Indigenous communities may also experience jurisdictional neglect when it comes to the enforcement of building codes on reserves. As previously indicated, First Nations lands are regulated pursuant to the Indian Act and are the responsibility of the federal government.  Provincial building codes generally do not apply to on-reserve construction projects. In relation to this, the National Building Code of Canada has no legal status unless it is adopted at provincial levels.^{footnote 6[6]}

The Indian Act provides First Nations authority to make by-laws that regulate the construction, repair and use of buildings.^{footnote 7[7]} Some First Nations communities in Ontario have adopted by-laws to address these areas. Other First Nations communities in Ontario have entered into agreements with Canada to manage their lands and resources as per Canada’s First Nations Land Management Act.^{footnote 8[8]} These agreements may address building code provisions on-reserve. However, the lack of uniformity across the province, chronic underfunding and a lack of support for enforcement mechanisms has left many communities with homes in disrepair.

Living Conditions On-Reserve

This brief overview will focus on the ways in which Indigenous people continue to receive fewer services and less funding, putting them at greater risk of harm and, specifically, at greater risk of experiencing fatal fires.

As the process of colonization and settlement was carried out, Canada often “forced First Nations to relocate their reserves from agriculturally valuable or resource-rich land onto remote and economically marginal reserves.”^{footnote 9[9]} Many communities were forced on to reserves that were / are situated on the Canadian Shield, lands with little arable soil, flood plains etc. The present impacts of this often result in unsafe living conditions including structural damage to housing, electrical wiring issues, or mold. In a 2018 report, First Nations households were identified as having issues with mold or mildew “at a rate (39.7%) three times higher than the general population (13%).”^{footnote 10[10]}  The use of often inadequate building materials for homes on-reserve and the severe lack of resources required to maintain the structural integrity of housing greatly contribute to this statistic.

Safe and secure housing in First Nations communities remains an ongoing systemic issue. In 2016, Statistics Canada found that 44.2% of First Nations people living on-reserve were living in a dwelling in need of major repairs.^{footnote 11[11]} In comparison, 6.0% of the non-Indigenous population indicated that their dwelling needed major repairs.^{footnote 12[12]} In many First Nations communities, the federal government allocates annual funding for infrastructure and building repairs. This can often result in difficult choices for Chiefs and Councils that may involve determining whether multiple homes should be partially repaired, or a fewer number of homes fully repaired.

This statistic is further compounded by overcrowding - another systemic issue that impacts First Nations people disproportionately. In 2016, 18.5% of people living off reserve indicated that they were living in crowded conditions. In comparison, 36.8% of First Nations people with registered or treaty Indian status were living in a crowded dwelling”.^{footnote 13[13]}

This number is expected to rise as a result of recent changes made to the Indian Act. In an effort to remove discrimination on the basis of gender, the federal government has extended Indian Status to those that were previously enfranchised and their descendants.^{footnote 14[14]}. In addition to this sudden rise in the number of people entitled to live on-reserve, since 2006 the population of Indigenous people has grown by 42.5%, according to the 2016 Census. This is more than four times the growth rate of non-Indigenous people.^{footnote 15[15]} Each of these factors is expected to further contribute to the issue of overcrowding on-reserve.

Fire safety on-reserve

In 2011, the Ontario First Nations Technical Services Corporation reported that “on average, an on-reserve housing unit cost $250,000 and that $2.2 billion was required to remedy the First Nations housing deficit in Ontario”. This number includes the amount required to build new units to meet demand and renovate existing units in need of major repair.^{footnote 16[16]}

In regards to fire protection services, Indigenous Services Canada (ISC) provides annual funding as part of the First Nation’s core capital funding which is managed by individual First Nations Chief and Councils.^{footnote 17[17]} The amount of funding for fire protection is determined through a regionally-based formula that examines a variety of factors including the number of buildings on-reserve, how close the community is to other communities, and the population size.^{footnote 18[18]}

Between 2008 and 2017, ISC provided only $29 million annually for fire protection services to First Nations communities.^{footnote 19[19]} There are 634 First Nations across Canada. The $29 million for fire protection services included less than $5 million for fire protection services training.^{footnote 20[20]}

First Nations Chiefs and Councils can use the allocated funds to operate their own fire departments or to contract fire protection services from nearby communities.^{footnote 21[21]} Depending on where a First Nation is located, access to nearby fire protection services may not be a viable option. We heard from members of the Advisory Group about a variety of issues with fire protection in First Nations communities. Problems with fire trucks, not being able to access operational fire hydrants, and a lack of training were all described.

Reading this report

As you read through this report, it is important to understand how Canada’s treatment of Indigenous people has led to systemic issues that put Indigenous communities at a higher risk of experiencing house fires and fire fatalities. The issues highlighted in this section are meant to support readers as they review the data and findings included in this report. It is important to recognize that the complexities of Canada’s history, ongoing issues of jurisdictional neglect and the continued lived realities of Indigenous people cannot be fully understood, nor respectfully addressed in this report.