Saskatchewan Ombudsman to conduct investigation on wildfire response

Saskatchewan’s top watchdog is speaking out against the provincial government’s handling of wildfire evacuees.

Saskatchewan Ombudsman, Sharon Pratchler, said the system responsible for providing services for evacuees, like accommodations and food, isn’t working, leaving her office to fill the gaps.

“I’ve worked two nights with my people on our 24/7 line to try and get a home and food for a person who was displaced, who is an employee of the Government of Saskatchewan. It took two days to get them into a house,” she said.

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According to Pratchler, this story isn’t unique.

She said northern Saskatchewan evacuees aren’t having their basic human needs met, with some sleeping in cars, going hungry, or running out of funds due to delays in payment.

In its daily media update, Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency (SPSA) President Marlo Pritchard acknowledged the backlog of evacuation supports.

“We did have a process in place to deal with the 1-855 call line, going into evacuation support, making sure that they got called back as quickly as possible. But really, what it came down to was the demand outweighed, or overwhelmed, the ability to keep up,” he said.

Pritchard said the SPSA is working to close the gap as quickly as possible.

But, with Pratchler’s office hearing from people waiting up to four days for a response, she said, response times have to improve.

“(For) the people of northern Saskatchewan, their world is totally collapsed around them, they need an immediate response,” she said.

Pratchler’s comments are uncommon

The role of the Ombudsman typically involves the evaluation of government responses and actions after the fact, not during.

While unusual, Pratchler didn’t want to call her actions unprecedented, instead saying the lack of accessibility was.

“It’s unprecedented for us to have evacuees reaching out saying that they’re not getting food and they’re not having a place to stay. It’s unprecedented for us not to have a more responsive response,” she said.

Saskatchewan Ombudsman, Sharon Pritchard, said the provincial government needs to put 24-hour services in place to work through the backlog of people still needing food and a safe place to sleep on June 10, 2025 (Abby Zieverink, 980 CJME).

System failures impacting Air Ronge evacuees

One community looking for a more effective response from the provincial government is Air Ronge.

“We’re not asking for the world here. We’re just asking that at least people’s basic needs are being met. We still have people that are sleeping in their vehicles,” Julie Baschuk, the mayor of Air Ronge, said.

On top of struggling to find accommodations, Baschuk said the delayed payments will have a prolonged impact on the community.

“They’re going to come home to empty fridges with no money to restock it,” she said.

“They’re going to come home with bills that still need to be paid and no money to be able to pay that. We essentially created additional trauma to people.”

According to Baschuk, these problems weren’t around for wildfire evacuees a decade ago.

“In 2015, when it all ran through the Red Cross, it was simple and it was effective,” she said. “People were given the support that they all individually needed immediately. This separation between the SPSA and the Red Cross has been a nightmare to navigate.”

Ombudsman’s office to launch inquest

With so many problems in the current system, Pratchler said a review is needed.

“Our office will be conducting a systemic investigation in terms of the response to the forest fires and the evacuation and services,” she said.

While the provincial government didn’t respond to Pratchler’s request for an investigation, it wrote that it was aware of concerns with the wildfire evacuee system.

“[We] have heard the concerns about evacuees not receiving clear communication and difficulties accessing support,” the statement read. “We are actively working to address these concerns. With regard to the 855 phone number, SPSA has increased the number of staff answering calls in an effort to ensure that everyone is able to access consistent and accurate information in a timely manner.”

For Pratchler, ensuring access to services in a timely manner means a change from days to seconds.

“The time for working on it has passed. An immediate response is required. ‘We will get back in four days,’ is not a response that should be given, but it still is. The needs are immediate and the response must be immediate,” she said.