Name: Climate Change, Governance Gaps, and Rising Indigenous Vulnerability to Wildfires: Lac LaRonge
Start: 2026-05-14T11:30:00-0600
End: 2026-05-14T12:00:00-0600

2026 CRHNet Symposium

Climate Change, Governance Gaps, and Rising Indigenous Vulnerability to Wildfires: Lac LaRonge

Thursday May 14, 2026 11:30am - 12:00pm MDT

PIC 120/122 - Full Conference Hall

Indigenous communities in Canada are becoming increasingly vulnerable to climate-related extreme events such as wildfires due to several interconnected environmental, sociopolitical, and governance-related factors. The systematic destruction of their land-based resource governance and traditional fire stewardship practices through colonial fire ban policies has disrupted their long-standing ecological relationships that further eroded their and-based knowledge and their livelihoods. The continued adoption of a Western, top-down fire control and management system centered on fire suppression has constrained Indigenous leadership and the inclusion of Indigenous knowledge in wildfire preparedness and management. It is critically important to empirically investigate how these changes are affecting Indigenous communities. In this context, between April and August 2025, we collected primary data by participating in land-based cultural camps, sharing circles, and storytelling sessions with Elders and knowledge keepers in the Lac La Ronge Woodland Cree community. These engagements provided key insights into the experiences from the 2015 and 2025 wildfires, Indigenous fire management practices, land-based coping strategies, and structural challenges in wildfire governance. Our findings revealed that the 2025 wildfire season marked a sharp increase in severity of fire, fueled by prolonged drought, low river levels, rapid snowmelt, and erratic wind speed. The lack of institutional preparedness for the wildfire hazards was noticeable during the 2025 wildfire season. Community Elders described the 2025 evacuation as chaotic and inequitable, marked by poor communication, delayed transport, and fragmented coordination. The absence of a unified command structure left nearby communities unsupported, revealing jurisdictional complexities and governance failures. The lessons from 2015 & 2025 demand a paradigm shift toward more inclusive and anticipatory wildfire governance.

Speakers

C. Emdad Haque

Professor, University of Manitoba

Dr. C. Emdad Haque is a Professor at the Natural Resources Institute, University of Manitoba, Canada. He holds a PhD degree in Environmental and Disaster Management from the University of Manitoba, Canada, and has conducted research across South Asia, Latin America, and North America... Read More →

Somashree Chattapadhya

Graduate student, Natural Resources Institute, University of Manitoba

Graduate researcher focused on Indigenous wildfire knowledge, resilience, and governance.

Thursday May 14, 2026 11:30am - 12:00pm MDT
PIC 120/122 - Full Conference Hall NAIT Productivity and Innovation Centre

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2026 CRHNet Symposium

C. Emdad Haque

Somashree Chattapadhya

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2026 CRHNet Symposium

C. Emdad Haque

Somashree Chattapadhya

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