File Hills Qu’Appelle Tribal Council, Canadian Red Cross sign collaborative agreement
The File Hills Qu’Appelle Tribal Council and Canadian Red Cross Society in Saskatchewan signed a collaborative agreement for emergencies.
This solidifies a mutually beneficial working relationship during times of disaster in communities on Treaty 4 territory, meaning the groups will collaborate to identify their supports and needs.
“The Canadian Red Cross wants to ensure that we are supporting communities as they build the capacity to respond to emergency situations,” Luc Mullinder, vice president of Canadian Red Cross in Saskatchewan, said. “We have resources that can help (the) community and it’s a matter of us providing access to those resources so (communities) can lead in their responses.”
He said the new agreement is the first step toward real change.
Mullinder said the organizations know how to respond to an emergency, but this agreement allows the tribal council to teach some of the culturally appropriate steps to provide support in a time of need.
“Anything from simply offering traditional food and traditional blanket,” Mullinder said. “All the way to, hey you know, what’s the quickest way to get resources in communities hands.”
Chief Edmund Bellegarde with the File Hills Qu’Appelle Tribal Council said there is a lot of infrastructure and training gaps between Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities.
“Understanding the infrastructure that is required, the equipment, the supplies, but the humanitarian approach to providing that service and to mitigating the impacts on the population or the people who are most impacted in the times of disaster,” said Bellegarde. “We’ve learned a lot from emergency planning, emergency implementation, but part of the biggest lesson that we are learning from is emergency preparedness.”
He hopes that more tribal councils will enter agreements with these types of organizations so everyone is prepared.
Both agencies said with Saskatchewan in the middle of wildfire season, this was an important time to sign the paperwork.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Which Canadian cities have the highest and lowest grocery prices?
Where you live plays a big factor in what you pay at the grocery store. And while it's no secret the same item may have a different price depending on the store, city or province, we wanted to see just how big the differences are, and why.
'State or state-sponsored actor' believed to be behind B.C. government hacks
The head of British Columbia’s civil service has revealed that a “state or state-sponsored actor” is behind multiple cyber-security incidents against provincial government networks.
Swarm of 20,000 bees gather around woman’s car west of Toronto
A swarm of roughly 20,000 bees gathered around a woman’s car in the parking lot of Burlington Centre.
Mother assaulted by stranger while breastfeeding baby in her car: Vancouver police
A person was arrested in East Vancouver Thursday after allegedly entering a car while a mother was breastfeeding her four-month-old boy.
More than half the Canadians once detained in Syrian camps for suspected ISIS family members have returned home
A total of 29 Canadians have been freed from detention camps in northeast Syria and brought back to Canada since human rights advocates began lobbying for their release years ago.
Rare severe solar storm Friday could bring spectacular aurora light show across Canada
A rare and severe solar storm is expected to bring spectacular displays of the northern lights, also known as aurora borealis, across much of Canada and parts of the United States on Friday night.
Canada abstains from Palestinian UN membership vote but supports two-state solution
Canada was one of 25 countries that abstained from a United Nations vote on Palestinian membership that passed with overwhelming support on Friday.
Amish youth experience a rite of passage called Rumspringa. It’s not what you might think
The idea of “Rumspringa” has a specific spot in the American imagination. A rite of passage for young people in some Amish communities, Rumspringa is seen by most outsiders as a wild time away from strict Amish rules, when teenagers can experiment with the modern vices of the world.
Djokovic needs medical attention after getting knocked on the head by a water bottle at Italian Open
Novak Djokovic needed medical attention after apparently getting knocked on the head by a water bottle after a win at the Italian Open on Friday.