I would like to start by acknowledging that I come from a Caucasian background and I have walked through my 31 years of life with white privilege. I have never experienced firsthand, racism, segregation, or discrimination based on the color of my skin. July and August 2023 marked two years since I had my eyes truly opened to the racism that the Indigenous people of Canada have faced and continue to face, to this day.
On July 29 th, 2021 when I arrived at the host site at the NAV Centre in Cornwall to assist with and be a part of the evacuation of the Deer Lake First Nation (“DL FN”), I had no idea what I was really walking into. I had no experience or training in emergency management. I simply wanted to help the Deer Lake FN community and ISN Maskwa gave me the opportunity. I assumed that everyone at the evacuation host site would feel the same. I never expected that this host site would teach me everything NOT to do during an evacuation of our Indigenous brothers and sisters. I personally observed racism, segregation, and discrimination. What I saw needs to be shared so that these wrongs can be corrected and hopefully don’t happen again.
The community of DL FN had been residing at the NAV Centre for three weeks when ISN Maskwa arrived to provide Incident Command (“IC”) to the evacuation. Very quickly it became clear that the relationship between the community and the NAV Centre was horrific with a clear lack of trust and respect for the community members from DL FN. The damage had been done and the bridges had been burnt.
Our team instantly inherited the issues; we hit the ground running and called in reinforcements to join our team. Our Incident Command Team (“ICT”) knew a lot of hard work was needed to gain the trust and respect of the community, but we were determined. We worked tirelessly for fourteen to sixteen hours minimum every day, trying to correct the wrongs.
Within days of the Maskwa team’s arrival, the community had already had enough of the NAV Centre. Chief Mickie Meekis wrote a letter to the Minister, Marc Miller expressing the mistreatment of his community, comparing the conditions at the NAV Centre to jail. He requested a complete and immediate transfer to Thunder Bay. This meant that his community would be divided amongst hotel sites with some having to live in a congregated setting due to limited capacity but it was felt this option was better than the treatment from the NAV Centre. The ICT began to work on planning this move as our team would transfer with and support the community.
The letter resulted in the Deputy Minister of ISC at the time, Christiane Fox attending the NAV Centre the following day with members from First Nations and Inuit Health Branch (“FNIHB”). They were there to observe the conditions and follow up with Chief Meekis and his letter. They were given a deceptive tour of the NAV Centre, showcasing the largest rooms and most extravagant offerings available to the community by the NAV Centre. Our team was quick to provide insight into the truths of the mistreatment the DL FN community members were facing. We confirmed that in the short time we had been there, we had witnessed a majority of Chief Meekis’ statements first-hand and backed his letter and request. In the end, the community did not relocate to Thunder Bay due to the logistics it would have taken to care for the DL FN across multiple sites and ensure all their needs were met.
Our team stayed at the NAV Centre with the community, which gave us a better understanding of what the community was experiencing. I want to share the mistreatment and lessons I learned on this deployment. While I lacked experience in deployments, in my heart I knew what was right and what was wrong. Numerous injustices occurred, emphasizing the importance of sharing this experience.
When I was assigned my room, I thought it was cute and cozy but did not initially take into account that families were staying in rooms the size of mine. I created an ally at the front desk that assisted me with room allocations and I quickly became the accommodations “go-to” person. My ally and I worked together to follow their room transfer procedures but with an added push of urgency to get it done. Families that were overcrowded in smaller rooms were moved to bigger rooms to make their stay a little bit more comfortable. Keep in mind these families had already been in the small accommodations for three weeks at this point. Before long I was the trusted person who community members knew they could come to for help with issues.
One day I was walking by the front desk on my way to a meeting and noticed a young woman with no shoes on at the front desk. She was talking to a front desk staff and a security officer; both with the NAV Centre. I overheard them tell her she had to come back in an hour and speak to a Deer Lake liaison or security member. I caught up with her as she walked away, introduced myself and asked if I could help her. She explained that she and her brother had gotten into an argument the night before and she had been locked out of the room. She had gone to the front desk to ask if someone could let her back into the room or find somewhere for her to sleep as she had been locked out all night. I told her to leave it with me and I would sort it out. I was aware there were safe rooms for situations like this. I asked the Emergency Management Ontario (“EMO”) and ISC representatives for the use of one of them. It was granted. I went to the front desk, got the key and called the young woman down to the lobby. I offered to walk her to the room, which she accepted. I checked back in on her after the ICT meeting and gave her my phone charger. She remained in the safe room for the remainder of her stay. The NAV Centre staff were fully aware that these rooms were reserved for situations like this and were readily available. However, the staff brushed this woman off. It took me walking by and inserting myself for the proper course of action to be taken.
This evacuation is where I truly learned about my white privilege. And this is where I learned to use it for the good. In another occurrence, a Deer Lake Elder asked me to come with her to the front desk, stating she needed my “white lady presence”. Her 17-year-old grandson had asked twice for a new room key but was declined. However, when I approached the front desk with her, they gave her grandson a new key without me having to say a word. As we walked away from the desk, her grandson thanked me for helping and the Elder said to me that she knew they needed my assistance/white privilege to get a new room key. The NAV Centre had made them feel that because they were Indigenous community members, they would not be heard unless they had someone with ‘privilege’ to assist them.
Food and dining was another area in which my eyes were opened to the poor treatment of the community.
It was expected that we would dine with the community as we were working with them. On one of our first days, my colleague and I lined up with the community to collect our lunches. As I approached the front of the line the woman working behind the tables said to me “You don’t get your food from this side”, and advised that I was to collect my lunch from the ‘other side.’ The other side was the part of the cafeteria with the seated area and plated meals. Caught off guard, I asked, “Pardon me?” to which she reiterated that I was to eat on the other side. I told the woman that I was there working for and with the community and therefore I would be dining with the community. She reluctantly handed me a meal.
The community had one side to pick up meals with enough indoor seating for three individuals (3 out of 508 community members at the time of arrival) at three separate tables. Three! This was the middle of Covid. Yet, the ‘other side’ for dining had enough seating for approximately 30 to 40 people.
Outdoor eating areas consisted of the Jet Set patio (approximately 10 – 12 tables) and one tented area where tables and chairs were stacked in a back corner with a couple of odd tables and chairs scattered under the tent, not properly set out. This sent a clear message to the community that they were not welcome to use the area.
The meals were being served in brown paper bags which were triggering PTSD for community members who had attended residential schools and residential day schools. This was addressed to the NAV Centre who suggested a fix would be blue paper bags. However, our team explained that it is not the colour of the paper bag but the paper bag itself. The NAV Centre provided biodegradable plastic bags as the replacement moving forward.
To add, no dietary restrictions of the Deer Lake community members were taken and noted upon arrival to the NAV Centre.
After two weeks of pushing, an established indoor dining area was created. I informed a Deer Lake Elder, working the evacuation, of the dining hall so that she could post about it in the community’s Facebook group. The Elder explained that when the community first arrived to NAV, they were told to take their food and go; therefore, some community members may not feel comfortable sitting down in the gym to eat their meals. She agreed to post it. I informed and reassured the Elder that the take-away option was still available but the team hoped that the community would feel welcome and comfortable dining if they chose to. Our team just wanted to make sure the community had the option. In addition, buffet style dining was added so community members could have sufficient meal portions. Following this discussion, I spoke to another community member the following day. She had been to the new dining setup and she stated that it was nice just to eat on a plate with proper cutlery again.
When we arrived at the NAV Centre, it was explained to our team that the following was unavailable and/or denied to the Deer Lake community:
- No smudging;
- No fires were allowed in the onsite built-in Jet Set patio fire pit nor access to their wood stock;
- The use of outdoor recreational facilities was not allowed due to “liabilities” – This included the baseball diamond, volleyball court and soccer field.
After the ICT pushed and gained access to the outdoor recreation facilities, two DL community liaisons asked myself where they could find the volleyball courts. We attended the front desk and asked the NAV Centre staff where the volleyball courts were located. The NAV employee advised that the courts were not open to the public. I explained that permission had been given for the community members. The NAV staff repeated that the facilities were closed to the public. Again, it was reiterated that access was given to the community members. The staff member called NAV security who confirmed that permission had been given to the community to use the facilities. The staff member then confirmed that the community did have permission to use the facilities. I advised that we were aware of the permission and that we were simply looking to locate the volleyball court. The NAV employee advised they did not know. I thanked the NAV employee for their assistance and went with the DL liaisons to locate the volleyball courts ourselves.
We were advised by NAV management that the fire pit required a permit for use so one of the ISN Maskwa team members ventured to the local fire station to obtain one. It was then that we learned that the NAV Center was federal property and did not require a permit. We had a fire that night, and every night thereafter.
Prior to our arrival, the NAV Centre organized a chalk day for the children of DL FN. What could go wrong with this? One child put the initials “DL” (Deer Lake) on the brick wall by the entrance of the main residence where the majority of the community was staying. The NAV Centre took the chalk away claiming that the artwork was “gang” related graffiti. I was infuriated when I learned this. I went out and found the biggest box of sidewalk chalk I could buy, purchased two boxes, and that night when I went to the evening fire, I drew a giant hopscotch for the children. A few children joined me and chatted as we drew with the chalk. The next day many of the children were playing hopscotch and decorating the patio with their chalk artwork.
The overall hospitality shown by the NAV Centre was nicely topped off during the repatriation process. As the community members were headed for their flights, NAV employees told the ICT that once the buses left the property, the community members were not welcome back to the NAV Centre regardless of whether or not the planes took off as scheduled.
I am very grateful that I was able to see every community member off at the airport and be one of the last faces from their time in Cornwall which I hope was a positive final note for them. I was very happy to see them get to go home but I was really sad to see them go, they were such a great community to work with.
At the end of it all, after the community had headed home, to hear the excuses of the staff and management claiming they did their best, that they were tired and stressed, was maddening. We were all tired and we were all stressed, no evacuation runs stress-free. But none of them put themselves into the shoes of the community members. They were tired. They were stressed. The only difference was that at the end of each stressful day, the staff got to go home to decompress, and DL FN did not, for five weeks.
There was some great staff working at the NAV Centre who helped the community and worked with our team. I do not wish to paint all the staff with the same brush. It is unfortunate that a portion of the frontline staff, supervisors and management treated the community in a disrespectful and ignorant way. The behaviour of these individuals was eye opening for me and this is why I wanted to share the story.
I come from a Caucasian background, I walk with white privilege, but I also walk with the Indigenous community as an ally. I will fight tooth and nail to defend and fight for the Indigenous community until they are treated equally. And that starts with sharing the truth about the evacuation of Deer Lake First Nation to the NAV Centre and the cultural injustices their community faced.
Being able to gain the trust and respect of so many community members in such a short period of time was an honour that I do not take for granted.
I believe the community of Deer Lake First Nation is still owed an apology from the NAV Centre, for the mistreatment of their community at a time when they needed compassion and a safe place to temporarily call home.
Author Bio
“Written by Brooke McIntosh, ISN Maskwa Operations Supervisor”
