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By Cam Lee
A local First Nation is the first in Canada to sign up for a new emergency alert system.
A news conference was held at the James Smith Cree Nation on Wednesday to sign an agreement with TryCycle Data Systems for use of its FirstAlerts system.
The new feature is on the Talking Stick app, which is an anonymous chat app developed by the company in partnership with the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations (FSIN).
The app is designed to allow First Nations leaders issue emergency alerts about missing persons, public safety emergencies, or natural disasters.
Chief Robert Head of the Peter Chapman Band, one of the bands that are part of James Smith, said the alert system brings another layer of protection for First Nations across the country.
“An app like this will help our First Nations to respond quickly to provide protection and advanced warning to all of our membership,” Head explained. “This is an instrumental application that’ll help save lives in the future.”
Head added the app can also be used for forest fires, evacuations, or dangerous approaching weather.
“(On) every First Nation, we have an Emergency Management Team, so the Emergency Management Team will be responsible for issuing the alerts,” Head explained.
He said the security force in the community provides one layer of security, and believes the new app will help be another layer, in addition to the RCMP.
FSIN Second Vice-Chief Dutch Lerat said First Nations leaders want to ensure that notices that go out to First Nations and membership are done as timely as possible.
He said the FSIN fully supports James Smith and all of the other First Nations in their efforts to improve community safety and security.
“We have witnessed layers of bureaucracy that have cost us critical time in emergencies, so what this does is that it complements it,” Lerat explained. “It’s another layer that is available to our Nations in terms of communication, in terms of letting our membership know when there is an emergency, what the emergency is, and the actions to take.”
According to Lerat, First Nations have a right to design and follow emergency alerting protocols of their own creation, and that’s why the development of FirstAlerts is essential.
“FirstAlerts will be critical in keeping our community safe when we … inevitably face dangerous or traumatic situations and we encourage that all of our First Nations across Saskatchewan sign up to FirstAlerts,” Lerat said.
TryCycle Data Systems CEO John MacBeth believes more communities will sign on to FirstAlerts, and thinks it could be a game-changer.
He said the app was designed to be autonomous from other emergency alert systems, with a very limited amount of training necessary.
The app is also meant to be easy to update and use in cases of emergency.
“Imagine we’re dealing with a wildfire. We’re evacuating the community. We could actually be pushing an alert while in the car,” explained MacBeth.
The only people to get an alert would be those who sign up for FirstAlerts. All 74 First Nations, the tribal councils and the FSIN would have their own access. There are different categories of alert including disasters, public safety, and missing persons.
MacBeth said 193 First Nations members have been hired to provide peer support, and information can be transferred from chief and council through the peers to ensure the most accurate information is distributed to the communities in the fastest time possible.
MacBeth thanked the FSIN for connecting the company with translators.
“That we’re aware of, Talking Stick is the only app in the world that has been translated to 13 languages – 10 of those are Indigenous,” said MacBeth, who said if there is a First Nation that has a language requirement, it would be looked after.
“It’s all about sovereignty and it’s about identity.”
He said TryCyle has been working with the FSIN to ensure that the app is culturally appropriate and culturally sensitive, and their testing has been thorough.
Much discussion has taken place after the mass stabbing at James Smith and Weldon in 2022 about emergency alert systems, specifically at the recent inquest into the incident that was held in Melfort last month.
James Smith Cree Nation Chief Wally Burns, who was unable to attend Wednesday’s news conference, stated in a news release that during the mass stabbing deaths in 2022, “we saw how important time-sensitive emergency communication was when it comes to saving lives, and unfortunately, our community was devastated when 11 people from James Smith and Weldon were murdered.”
He called the app a game-changer that helps community leaders warn band members of criminal activity and danger.
Head added it’s vital having a way to alert people within James Smith Cree Nation.
“That morning (Sept. 4, 2022, when the stabbings took place) that (app) could have saved lives,” he said. “We had one first responder that was out there trying to save lives and her life was taken that morning. Had we had an alert system like that saying, ‘Get inside, lock your doors, keep safe,’ that would be a good way to save lives.”
Talking Stick has around 25,000 downloads according to MacBeth, and FirstAlerts will be an update feature will be made available to those people.
First Nations members can download the app for free through the Apple Store or Google Play.