By Alessia Passafiume THE CANADIAN PRESS GATINEAU, Que.- First Nations leaders gathered Wednesday to discuss how they can better prepare for the wildfires, pandemics, floods and effects of climate change that disproportionately affect their communities. The Assembly of First Nations summit in Gatineau, Que., is the first such forum in seven years. It follows a record-breaking wildfire season that scorched 100,000 square kilometres of land and saw dozens of First Nations communities evacuated. It also comes four years after the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, which found First Nations peoples and communities at a heightened risk of exposure. National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak said at no time has the safety of communities amid disasters been a more pressing concern. “The unpredictability has lead to recurrent emergency evacuations forcing our people to

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