By Sonal Gupta, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Canada’s National Observer As wildfires continue to burn across Manitoba, First Nations leaders say their communities remain “defenceless” due to a lack of proper firefighting equipment and resources. The province is experiencing one of its most severe wildfire seasons in decades, with 25 active fires. There have been a total of 106 already this season, far above the province’s 20-year annual average of 84 at this time of year. Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew, at a press conference on May 30, explained that the province is throwing everything it has at the fires. “We are using every firefighter that we have,” Kinew said. But Gordie Bear, chief of Mathias Colomb Cree Nation (also known as Pukatawagan), said the province is overlooking a key resource:

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