TŜILHQOT’IN NATIONAL GOVERNMENT

253 – 4th Avenue North - Williams Lake, BC V2G 4T4 - Phone (250) 392-3918 - Fax (250) 398-5798

Media Release
May 15, 2018

T ilhqot’in Respond to Independent Wildfire Review

Williams Lake, BC: welcomes some of the recommendations released last week
by the BC Flood and Wildfire Review, but remains disappointed by the lack of opportunity for
involvement in the process and outstanding concerns over the rushed timelines.
have shown significant leadership in this area and our territory was home to the largest wildfires in the
Province s r c rd d s ry, no official invitation to participate was received by our Tribal Chairman.

Issues of jurisdiction and governance continue in our territory. As the governing body for more than 3000
of our citizens, we expected that our collective experiences would be documented and utilized to seek
solutions for future emergency situations. The BC Fire and Flood Review is incomplete without our
contribution.

Individual c mm s and r c rr y developing their own

Wildfire Reports that will provide analysis, recommendations and a review of legal jurisdictions in the
case of recognized and asserted Aboriginal title.

Despite concerns over the timelines and process of gathering feedback, the Nation does support some of
the recommendations. We will do our r s r ilh x r s c r b s to the body
of knowledge so all First Nations and levels of government can learn and benefit, making the concrete
changes together.

Quote:

Chief Joe Alphonse Tribal h i n ilhqot’in National Government

“As far as the T s c c r d we were at the frontline of the 2017 wildfires and took a
leadership role in escalating the need for change. The BC Flood and Wildfire Review is incomplete
without the input of our Nation and our communities. The largest wildfires in BC were in our backyard
and at times right in our communities.

We are identifying our own community, government, policy, protocol and legal solutions. First Nations
perspectives cannot be overlooked when it comes to issues of Aboriginal title jurisdiction, local capacity,
expertise and improvements to administrative efficiencies. Once complete we will release our own
s r c mm d s w r vd rs c v c rr y in the BC Flood and
W df r R v w.”

Media Contact:
Myanna Desaulniers
Communication Manager
250-305-7885