Emails show 'a lot of miscommunication' as city and N.W.T. gov't planned Yellowknife's re-entry

Emails from the final days of Yellowknife's 2023 wildfire evacuation detail the confusion around which level of government was supposed to lift the order and welcome everyone back.  

On Aug. 30, just days before the announcement was made that the evacuation would be ending, an official with the city of Yellowknife wrote an email to the territorial government asking several questions around the plan. 

"When the time comes, what will the decision process be for MACA [the Municipal and Community Affairs] Minister," the city's email read. 

"Evac Order Lifted altogether? Or downgraded to Evac Alert? What's our role on this?"

Through an access to information and protection of privacy (ATIPP) request, CBC News obtained 142 pages of emails and notes between the city, the territorial government and the Yellowknives Dene First Nation on the days leading up to the announcement.

Names of city officials in the email exchanges were redacted. 

This morning's meeting with re-entry was very frustrating. We are unclear as to what stage the city is at.- Emily King, N.W.T. public safety director

The confusion, shown in the emails, was also discussed in the KPMG report of the city's handling of the evacuation, which was released in early July. The report found communication from both governments to be better on the re-entry compared to the evacuation.

The fire is 'being held': Now what? 

On Aug. 27, as firefighting efforts improved and reduced the threat of the fires to the city, the confusion between both governments grew worse.

Mike Westwick, N.W.T. Fire information officer, alerted both levels of government that it would be declaring one of the fires as "being held" and said he wanted to ensure the governments would co-ordinate messaging. 

"We will put out a bulletin saying what that means, and the work ahead to reduce the wildfire risk to the capital. I will also speak to this in the presser tomorrow," he wrote.

"The one missing piece in this to tie the bow, so to speak, would be the city's more granular re-entry plan. Is the city going to be in a position to talk that through tomorrow, including the timelines at play?"

He also asked that the city have a phone number and email available for the public to reach with questions. 

"Our fire team was completely overrun with calls which should have been going to either the city or MACA during the evacuation phase with questions we were not in a position to answer," he wrote. 

"The volume is pretty immense in terms of what we receive on the wildfire front already, and another surge like that would compromise our ability to operate effectively with continuing situations in Hay River and Fort Smith."

On another email, the city said that it was planning to put together a re-entry plan to release, but was going to base it on one that MACA had, which the city hadn't seen. 

"The city needs to see this plan/graphic ASAP to ensure that our language is the same. Our 'plan' is based on the GNWT's phased approach," a city official wrote.

Who lifts the order? 

Along with planning re-entry, there was confusion on who was even responsible for lifting the order. 

"There is definitely a lot of miscommunication going on … at different levels," a city official wrote in an email to the N.W.T. government on Aug. 28.

That confusion stemmed from the territory's legislation.

Although the evacuation order was issued by MACA Minister Shane Thompson, the city still needed to technically lift the order — by sending a request to the territorial government. 

In an email on Aug. 29, Emily King, the territory's director of public safety, explained to the city that the territorial government would oblige in lifting the evacuation order "so long as [it doesn't] have significant safety concerns." But the safety would be determined by guidance from the department of Environment and Climate Change (ECC), which is with the N.W.T. government.

On Aug. 29, the city said in an email that it was still waiting on ECC to provide guidance on when it was safe to return. 

"So far, ECC has not been willing to do this," the email read. 

"GNWT determined the risk was great enough for the minister to decide to implement a community-wide Evacuation Order, and while the local authority (the city) will determine when [it's] safe for re-entry, we need the subject matter experts to confirm."

Emails also show N.W.T. government officials didn't understand why the city was confused about this. 

"YKDFN and the City of Yellowknife requested in writing the process for lifting the Evacuation Order as they are both under the impression they have no authority to lift an order," wrote King to another N.W.T. official.

"I was very clear that we would lift the order on their behalf at their request ... This morning's meeting with re-entry was very frustrating. We are unclear as to what stage the city is at."

Laura Gareau, the deputy minister of MACA at the time, replied to King's email on Aug. 29. 

"Agree to put it in writing — unreal we have to do that, but that's where we are at with these folks," she wrote.

In April, the territory updated its emergency plan around who is responsible during emergencies, but some MLAs cited concerns around how much responsibility it places on individual communities.

Already this summer, the mayor of Norman Wells called on the N.W.T. to provide more support for communities, after his town hosted evacuees from Fort Good Hope fleeing a wildfire.