Manitoba premier hints at using emergency powers to open up hotel rooms for wildfire evacuees

Arturo Chang · CBC News

· Posted: Jun 12, 2025 11:42 PM EDT | Last Updated: 4 hours ago

Manitoba's premier says his authorities could usage exigency powers to escaped up edifice rooms for radical who escaped the wildfires inactive raging successful the province's north.

Premier Wab Kinew told reporters Thursday the state on with partners successful the edifice manufacture person opened thousands of rooms for the much than 21,000 people who've fled the fires — but that there's inactive galore families sleeping connected cots weeks aft the authorities declared a provincewide authorities of emergency.

"We person exigency powers. We've been precise restrained successful however we're utilizing them and we don't privation to usage them," helium said, calling connected edifice operators sitting connected rooms to voluntarily unfastened them up for evacuees.

"For those operators of hotels who aren't stepping up, we request to spot more," helium said. "We each cognize that there's much rooms retired determination that we could beryllium tapping into."

The premier made the remarks aft landing successful Winnipeg pursuing a travel to the beforehand lines of the conflict against the largest wildfire presently raging successful the province.

For his last stop, Kinew toured the congregate structure that's been acceptable up to invited evacuees successful Thompson, astir 400 kilometres northbound of Winnipeg arsenic the crow flies.

It's "pulling astatine the heartstrings erstwhile we spot families with kids sleeping connected cots successful a hockey rink," helium said.

"There's rooms successful Thompson radical could beryllium accessing and I'd similar to spot those opened up. There's rooms successful different parts of the province.… We're not talking astir everlastingly here."

Some First Nations enactment person been urging the state to escaped up the hotel rooms for evacuees.

WATCH | Province takes implicit information astatine Winnipeg evacuee structure amid information concerns:

Last week, Pimicikamak Cree Nation Chief David Monias wrote a missive calling connected the authorities to usage exigency measures to marque the rooms available.

Kinew said helium hasn't heard feedback from immoderate hotels declining to big evacuees, but that the state has "a batch of data" astir the rooms that are presently occupied.

"I consciousness assured saying we cognize that there's much that immoderate successful the edifice assemblage tin do," helium said.

Flin Flon 'like a country retired of a movie': premier

The premier started Thursday's circuit successful Bakers Narrows — wherever firefighters are staging their effect to the occurrence threatening the City of Flin Flon and different communities. 

The province's largest occurrence was 307,780 hectares arsenic of the latest occurrence bulletin Thursday afternoon.

"What truly strikes maine is that we're successful a chopper determination with idiosyncratic who's been successful the Manitoba Wildfire Service for decades and they accidental you'd person a large fire, you know, erstwhile each 8 years oregon so," Kinew said.

"Now, it's each azygous twelvemonth we're getting these monolithic blazes and they're happening earlier and its going aboriginal into the year."

After Bakers Narrows, the premier went into Flin Flon, wherever astir 5,000 radical person been forced retired of their homes.

The metropolis is astir 630 kilometres northwest of Winnipeg.

"If you've ever been to Flin Flon, it's a metropolis similar galore others successful Manitoba," Kinew said, noting the usually engaged streets are present deserted. "You spell determination right, now, it's similar a country retired of a movie."

Kinew said helium met firefighters from each implicit the state successful Flin Flon, including volunteers utilizing their abrogation clip to assistance out as good arsenic precocious trained First Nations firefighters. He besides said helium met people coming from the U.S. and thanked them for stepping up.

The crews person "held this huge, monolithic wildfire astatine bay. The biggest wildfire that we tin callback being connected their doorstep, and they've done it by moving together," helium said. "It's astonishing conscionable to spot the co-operation to support specified an iconic city."

Find the latest wildfire accusation astatine these sources:

• Canadian wildfire map
• Province of Manitoba occurrence bulletins
• CBC's wildfire tracker
• Communities nether evacuations successful Manitoba

Are you an evacuee who needs assistance? Contact Manitoba 211 by calling 211 from anyplace successful Manitoba oregon email [email protected].