By Hope Lompe \u00a0Local Journalism Initiative Reporter When the Nathan E. Stewart tugboat ran aground off the coast of Bella Bella, spilling over 100 litres of fuel into surrounding waters in 2016, members of the Heiltsuk Nation were the first on scene. The volunteers were there to support emergency operations \u2014 but were not fully included in the process, says Dawn Wilson, CEO of the Coastal National Coast Guard Auxiliary (CN-CGA). It was a missed opportunity on many levels, she explains. \u201cWhen you have multiple stakeholders working together, and nobody knows what the left or right hand is doing, they’re either doubling up on the work, making the work harder, or creating more damage than good between those relationships,\u201d Wilson says. Since the incident, Indigenous-led auxiliaries have been included more… <\/p>\n
By Hope Lompe \u00a0Local Journalism Initiative Reporter When the Nathan E. Stewart tugboat ran aground off the coast of Bella Bella, spilling over 100 litres of fuel into surrounding waters in 2016, members of the Heiltsuk Nation were the first on scene. The volunteers were there to support emergency operations \u2014 but were not fully included in the process, says Dawn Wilson, CEO of the Coastal National Coast Guard Auxiliary (CN-CGA). It was a missed opportunity on many levels, she explains. \u201cWhen you have multiple stakeholders working together, and nobody knows what the left or right hand is doing, they’re either doubling up on the work, making the work harder, or creating more damage than good between those relationships,\u201d Wilson says. Since the incident, Indigenous-led auxiliaries have been included more... <\/p>\n