A report on insurance coverage is exposing the utter lack of fire protection in some of Canada’s most economically challenged communities.
Made public by the Canadian Press through Access to Information, a government report examining insurance coverage for First Nations communities suggests nearly half of them are without “adequate fire protection.”
That relates not just to fire services, but also the coverage needed to rebuild in the aftermath of a blaze.
Western provinces British Columbia and Manitoba were singled out as having the highest percentage of “First Nation sites” with none or very little fire protection. Atlantic Canada had, in fact, the most pervasive coverage.
That does little to mitigate concerns about the report’s findings.
The rate of incidents of fire are nearly two and half times that of the rest of the country, with residents of First Nations about 10 times more likely to die in a house fire.
Those communities generally rely on volunteer firefighters armed with antiquated equipment. The report’s findings are “not acceptable,” said federal Indigenous Affairs Minister Caroline Bennett.
But those conditions also make it difficult for First Nations communities to obtain adequate fire insurance for both individual residents but also the band council. It’s a vicious catch-22, say veteran brokers working in Manitoba.
It also means that rebuilding from fire draws on public funds in a way that fire incidents off-reserve generally don’t.
The hope of some Indigenous leaders is the federal government will move to better support fire services for First Nations, effectively paving the way for residents to win private insurance coverage at reasonable rates.
