By Christina Kelly
An unwavering commitment to emergency management
Christina’s unwavering commitment to emergency management is evident in her current roles. She serves as the Emergency Program Manager, Director of Emergency Support Services (ESS) for Nations, Fire Stewardship Team Lead, local FireSmart Representative, Interim Leadership Committee (ILC) Board member for the Emergency Planning Secretariat, appointed member of Akisqnuk Lands Committee, and volunteers with Mission ESS. Her dedication to this field is further demonstrated by her pursuit of an Emergency Management diploma at the Justice Institute of British Columbia after completing a Certification in Emergency Management and Certification in Exercise Design. She plans to continue her education at Royal Roads University for a master’s degree in Disaster and Emergency Management. Christina is a dedicated force within emergency management and a lifelong learner.
Uniting Coast Salish Nations in emergency management
Leq’á:mel First Nation; image credit: Gordon Armstrong
Leq’á:mel First Nation is located 30 kilometers east of Mission, BC, located in the heart of the Fraser Valley. Leq’á:mel means “Level Meeting Place” and the Nation belongs to the Halq’emeylem language group among the Sto:lo-Coast Salish Territory. Leq’á:mel have inhabited this area for thousands of years. Recently, they have experienced multiple hazardous events in their traditional territory including ice storms that crippled the community and caused prolonged power outages, atmospheric river events that flooded roadways and affected fish-bearing waterways, and wildfires that impacted forests and air quality. Severe heat domes and extensive drought have had numerous impacts on the landscape and people with temperatures exceeding 42 degrees Celsius for three consecutive days.
Driven by her unwavering belief in the power of collaboration, Christina is deeply passionate about uniting Coast Salish Nations in emergency management. Emergency response training and exercises foster resource-sharing and capacity support during emergencies and as the impacts of climate change become more pronounced, she advocates for using predictive modeling for extreme heat, floods, and extended drought periods, that could lead to faster response times, quicker recovery efforts, and fewer impacts on communities.
Christina, alongside Jenna Noppen, the Disaster Recovery Manager and ESS Director from Sumas First Nation, have been leading the creation of a regional Emergency Support Services Team (ESS) for Nations. Many of the Nations struggle with the capacity to develop their own ESS teams yet feel that they could provide better care to their communities than municipal teams during emergency events. The ESS Team for Nations, consists of eleven Coast Salish communities (Cheam First Nation, Sumas First Nation, Soowahlie First Nation, Shxw’ow’hamel First Nation, Seabird First Nation, Sts’ailes First Nation, Sqewlets First Nation, Matsqui First Nation, Chawathil First Nation, Skwah First Nation and Leq’á:mel First Nation) dedicated to empowering Indigenous communities through emergency response and providing culturally sensitive support during emergencies. They are provincially certified with Evacuee Registration and Assistance (ERA) training which, coupled with their deep respect and understanding of Indigenous communities’ unique strengths and needs, enables them to provide culturally appropriate support, making a profound difference in the lives of those they serve.
Fire Stewardship Team; image credit: First Nations Emergency Services Society
Implementing FireSmart on the Leq’á:mel Reserve
One of Christina’s significant initiatives was to initiate the FireSmart program within the community. With the extended fire seasons and wildfires burning faster and with greater intensity, Leq’á:mel have proactively built and implemented a Fire Stewardship Team to train and protect their people, environment, and critical cultural infrastructure. Christina created a mitigation team dedicated to fire prevention tactics for Elders’ homes on the Leq’á:mel Reserve. Their four-person mitigation crew is working hard to incorporate the seven FireSmart principles and to bring awareness to the community on the importance of being prepared.
Christina’s efforts were recognized when she was selected as the local FireSmart representative in June, 2024, and was invited to speak at the Prince George Wildfire Summit in April 2024, where she emphasized the importance of incorporating the FireSmart programs in the Nation. The First Nations Emergency Services Society (FNESS) has been instrumental in building and training the Fire Stewardship Team at Leq’á:mel with Christina taking the lead.
Emergency Supports Services for Nations Team; image credit: Sumas First Nation
The importance of funding for supporting collaboration and building capacity
In British Columbia, the new Emergency and Disaster Management Act (EDMA) came into effect in 2023 and replaced the old Emergency Program Act. The EDMA was developed in consultation with First Nations as required by the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (The Declaration Act). The Declaration Act requires that the B.C. government take all measures necessary to ensure the laws of B.C. are consistent with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. This includes emergency management law. The EDMA is based on the United Nations Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction that promotes an “all-of-society approach” to emergency management. One of the EDMA requirements is consultation and cooperation with Indigenous Governing Bodies through all stages of emergency management.
Understanding the importance of the new EDMA, Leq’á:mel’s Emergency Manager is working with Mission’s Emergency Manager, Monique Weir on exciting opportunities. The first project is the Community to Community (C2C) grant. The program supports the advancement of First Nation and local government reconciliation and relationship-building through the development of agreements (such as protocols, MOUs, and service agreements), joint plans, and strategies, as well as the review of bylaws and policies to recommend potential amendments, or in some cases new bylaws and policies.
A Union of British Columbia Municipalities (UBCM) Emergency Operations Center grant was successfully awarded to Mission and Leq’á:mel to individually conduct two large-scale exercises based on local hazards. Mission will conduct a wildland fire exercise that will allow participants to prepare, plan, and respond to a large-scale wildfire and bring participants together from municipal and neighboring Nations to practice their skills. Leq’á:mel will conduct a large-scale flood scenario next spring bringing host Nations and municipal participants together to strengthen relationships and respond to community-wide flooding hazards.
An additional initiative is the UBCM Public Notification and Evacuation Route Planning grant, which will allow Mission Emergency Management and Leq’á:mel Emergency Management to develop strategic, tactical evacuation plans for both communities, which includes hosting evacuees from both communities, resource sharing, and identifying reception center locations and foster families as an alternative to group lodging facilities. At Leq’á:mel First Nation, Christina created the Foster Families Program to lodge Indigenous emergency evacuees with foster families. Her idea sprang from watching large Indigenous families support and nurture each other during difficult times. Evacuated Indigenous elders and families can be placed in Indigenous homes where they have cultural support and traditional foods, providing a substantially better experience and faster recovery times after emergency events. The program has been successful and will be utilized as an option by the ESS for Nations team to support all Indigenous communities during evacuation events.
Leq’á:mel Emergency Management Department was also successful in their application to the Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation Grant. This grant will allow Leq’á:mel to purchase and install a climate station and hydrometric sensors, which will monitor wind speed, temperature, humidity, air quality, rainfall amounts, and water levels. The ability to record real-time weather data will help create models for drought, water scarcity, extreme heat planning, and flooding. This data will be crucial for providing earlier notifications to the community, developing thresholds for trigger points and response plans, and for long-term planning.
Leq’á:mel First Nation Weather Station; image credit: Christina Kelly
Empowering Indigenous emergency management
Christina Kelly is passionate about building resiliency and collaborating with multiple Nations to exercise and train for emergencies and firmly believes that this empowers Indigenous emergency response. Christina was nominated for the 2024 Emergency Management Exemplary Service Award in the category of Building Resilient Communities, and travelled to Ottawa in February to receive this outstanding achievement.
To Nations who may want to build capacity, Christina suggests “…to look to your neighbouring Nations and reach out to emergency management professionals and municipalities; we are all caring individuals looking to build support and empower Indigenous and non-indigenous emergency management practices. No team is too small to make a difference; creating individual hazard response plans for your top-three identified hazards will enable you to strategically incorporate notification procedures and response measures and build much-needed resiliency and faster recovery times for your community.”
Bio
Christina Kelly descends from the Kootenai people of the Ktunaxa Nation, a proud member of the Akisq’nuk First Nation. Her grandfather is Kwiⱡⱡem Sw’a (Big-headed cougar), and her mother, Ishnet Sw’a (Cedar Cougar), is from the Morigeau Family. Christina has been fortunate to work and live on the unceded territory of the Stó:lō and Leq’á:mel peoples. She is married to Daniel Kelly, Stó:lō from Leq’á:mel First Nation. Daniel works as an Indigenous Monitoring Program Manager at Nòkwewashk, Natural Resources Canada, supporting 129 Indigenous Communities.
Christina can be reached at christinak@leqamel.ca and would love to meet virtually or offer personal assistance on strategizing for communities.
