The petition calling for a public inquiry into the Hay River-Enterprise-Kakisa wildfire and evacuation has been submitted. On Friday February 9, two members of the Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories (Kieron Testart and Sheryl Yakeleya) introduced a motion calling for an independent public inquiry into how the wildfires and evacuations were handled. Then the Premier rose and introduced a motion calling for the debate to be delayed until February 22.

The Premier, Cabinet and two regular MLAs from Frame Lake and Great Slave voted to delay the debate. All other MLAs opposed delaying the debate. The Speaker of the House broke the tie by also voting to delay the debate. According to an interview with media outlet Cabin Radio, the Premier “said that he wanted to use the two-week postponement he has just earned to convince regular MLAs that there’s no need for an inquiry.”
 
If you live in the Northwest Territories, please write to your MLA and as many others as you can to tell them why an independent public inquiry is needed. Some of us nearly died while fleeing through an inferno on the only highway out, and we deserve answers from territorial and community governments.
 
Sharing our stories can provide valuable information about gaps and issues that need to be addressed, restore public confidence in government, and provide a place for the collective healing that is needed for us to move forward. It's a miracle there was no loss of human life. Next time we may not be so lucky. Members of the Legislative Assembly need to hear from you. The list of MLAs and their email addresses are listed here:
 
https://www.ntassembly.ca/members
 
Thank you for continuing to stand up for an independent public inquiry. Your voice matters now more than ever.

Standing together,

Helena