A First Nations chief is calling on the Manitoba government to use the Emergency Measures Act to free up hotel space in Winnipeg to help house thousands of wildfire evacuees.
Pimicikamak Cree Nation Chief David Monias wrote a letter to the provincial government Monday, imploring it to use emergency legislation to order hotels to prioritize accommodations for evacuees.
“This is about protecting lives, keeping families together and ensuring our people are not subjected to further trauma or indignity,” Monias said in a statement.
A provincewide state of emergency was declared on May 28 after out-of-control wildfires led to the mandatory evacuations of Flin Flon, Pimicikamak Cree Nation and Mathias Colomb Cree Nation, also known as Pukatawagan.
Soon more evacuations were ordered — including Lynn Lake and Tataskwayak Cree Nation (Split Lake) — leaving more than 17,000 people potentially in need of shelter.
Over the weekend, First Nations leaders said hotels in Winnipeg and other major cities were largely booked up, forcing displaced families to live in congregate shelters in arenas and a soccer complex.
Shelters have been set up in Winnipeg, Thompson, Winkler and Portage la Prairie.
Under the Emergency Measures Act, a minister can “regulate the distribution and availability of essential goods, services and resources” if a state of emergency has been declared.
Monias also called for the cancellation or postponement of large, non-essential events occupying hotel space in the province.
While in Saskatchewan for a first ministers’ conference, Premier Wab Kinew told reporters that 1,000 more hotel rooms were “coming online.”
“Nobody wants to sleep on a cot for more than a day or two, even in an emergency situation,” Kinew told a news conference in Saskatoon.
A spokesperson later clarified that Kinew was referencing hotel rooms becoming available over the next few days that the government will work to book through the Canadian Red Cross.
Wildfire evacuees in need of donations
A spokesperson for Lisa Naylor, the minister responsible for emergency measures organization, did not address the request by Monias to use the Emergency Measures Act.
“Manitoba is working with the Manitoba Hotel Association to assess how many vacancies can be expected whether it will meet Manitoba’s needs, as wildfire dynamics shift,” she wrote in an emailed statement.
Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak Grand Chief Garrison Settee told reporters Monday that hotels are rejecting Red Cross-sponsored evacuees in favour of people with their own money to pay for accommodations.
“And that is unfortunate,” he said. “They need to be afforded basic human dignity.”
Some residents from Pukatawagan and Pimicikamak were taken to a hotel in Niagara Falls, Ont., on Sunday. About 600 more residents were expected to make their way there Monday, Settee said.
So far, two conferences that were scheduled to be held in Winnipeg have been postponed.
Citing the “pressing need for hotel spaces,” the Manitoba Court of King’s Bench and Saskatchewan Court of King’s Bench cancelled a joint education session in Winnipeg this week.
An Indigenous History and Heritage Gathering event planned to start Monday, hosted by the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation and the First Nations Confederacy of Cultural Education Centres, was also cancelled.
More than 1,000 hotel rooms have been secured by the Canadian Red Cross, with priority being given to those who have unique needs or require additional support, according to the organization’s spokesperson.
More rooms will be provided for other evacuees as space becomes available, the spokesperson said in an email sent Monday afternoon.
According to Tourism Winnipeg, there are about 7,600 hotel rooms available citywide. A 2023 report by Destination Canada — a national marketing organization that promotes travel in Canada — shows there are almost 15,000 hotel rooms available provincewide.
The Victoria Inn has 70 rooms occupied right now through the Red Cross, housing 130 adults and 125 children.
Four Crowns Inn, a restaurant and hotel in Shaughnessy Park, posted on social media Monday afternoon asking for the Red Cross to call them because “we have rooms.”
Rob Sankar, the general manager of the Viscount Gort Hotel in St. James said they have about three dozen evacuees staying there through the Red Cross and 40 rooms set aside waiting to be occupied.
He said people coming in are worried for their homes and don’t know what the future holds for them. His biggest concern is if there are more evacuations and there is nowhere for people to go.
“This type of evacuation, in my years in this business, I’ve never seen this many people being displaced,” he said.
“So it’s going to be a real challenge for the provincial and federal government to try to figure out what to do.”
The president of the Manitoba Hotel Association said in a written statement its members are “ready to help.”
“I know Manitoba hotels will work with the province to secure hotel rooms for evacuees. Hotels want to help, and serve all of Manitoba’s communities,” wrote Michael Juce.
