Manitoba youth advocate calls for more help for kids affected by wildfires

The Manitoba government must do more to reduce the physical and psychological harm to young people caused by wildfires, the provincial advocate for children and youth said Wednesday. “Manitoba can no longer treat wildfires as one-time emergencies — they are now a constant part of our changing climate,” said a six-page written statement from Sherry Gott‘s office. The office is an independent body that reports to the legislature. “Every wildfire season that passes without real change deepens the harm, risking generations of children growing up with physical and mental health concerns, lasting trauma, fractured education and recreational opportunities, displacement and disconnection from culture and community, and fading trust in the very systems meant to protect them.” Gott’s comments follow the worst wildfire season in Manitoba in decades. Some 32,000 people were forced to leave their homes over the spring and summer. Many were out for weeks, and some communities were evacuated twice. The impacts are especially severe on remote and Indigenous communities, Gott said, where people have to drive or fly hundreds of kilometres to safety, sometimes in large congregate shelters filled with rows of cots. Children are more vulnerable than adults to the physical effects of smoke and the adverse mental health results of having their life disrupted, Gott said. Missing their regular school also hurts. “Children’s right to education has … been severely impacted, as hundreds of school-aged children have been pulled from classrooms, losing not just lessons, but safe, structured spaces to learn, socialize, and grow,” Gott said. Her office is calling for better fire prevention to minimize the number of necessary evacuations. It also wants the province to ensure young evacuees have access to temporary learning spaces and tutoring, and there are safeguards against exploitation or neglect. Media reports in the summer said some youth in evacuation centres were targeted by drug dealers. Ian Bushie, the minister for natural resources and Indigenous futures, said the government offered children’s programming for evacuees at nine congregate shelters this year and found classroom space for those relocated to other communities. “We are committed to a review of our wildfire response, and that review will include how services kids and families rely on — like school, child care and recreation — were impacted this unprecedented season,” Bushie said in a written statement. Story by Steve Lambert Continue Reading