Crisis doesn't discriminate; nor should equitable crisis communication:the case of the 2025 Manitoba wildfires

In late May 2025, an emergency alert was sent to Manitobans informing them that “due to rapidly spreading wildfires and extreme weather conditions” (Province of Manitoba) Manitoba had declared a Provincial State of Emergency. While the title of the text message read “Emergency Alert/Alerte d’urgence”, the information was exclusively in English. This was not the first time either: a few months prior, the province dispatched another English-only weather-related emergency. As the wildfire crisis evolved, MBReady, Manitoba’s central source for emergency alerts and information was launched exclusively in English on June 5 2025, with claims of translation into French to follow. As of writing, MBReady remains English-only and resources for wildfire evacuees on the Wildfire Information web page display in English-only. This means that Francophones and Indigenous communities are underserved compared to English-speaking populations.

Crisis does not discriminate. Yet, decision-makers and provincial communication teams continue to default to English-only or English-first approaches, despite the lessons learned and data collected from past emergencies. While this might be understandable during an initial, unprecedented crisis, Manitoba has faced multiple crises—it is not the province’s proverbial “first rodeo.” In the case of the COVID-19 pandemic, for example, there is clear evidence that access to translated and multilingual information played a critical role in vaccination campaigns and in communicating public health orders and that lack of translation could exacerbate misinformation and lead to negative health outcomes (Desjardins, 2022). This raises the question: if the importance of translation was already evident, why were multilingual measures not prioritized in more recent responses?

We also see that the demolinguistic profile of the province is shifting (Statistics Canada 2021). Even though English remains the most popular language, many Manitobans speak English as a second language, not a first or most-spoken language: a key differentiator. Access to healthcare in one’s language intersects with social determinants of health. Similarly, wildfires do not only spread to English-speaking households or communities…

What these two crises show is that translation and multilingual communication cannot be an afterthought. We need to learn from previous crises and implement better, more equitable crisis communication practices. This certainly includes human translation and interpretation, particularly for communities where machine-mediated approaches may not instill trust or establish rapport, but it can also mean recourse to machine and AI translation in specific use cases (however, I am admittedly reticent to propose AI solutions in instances related to climate crisis, given the technology’s environmental footprint). If provincial teams wish to know how and when to deploy the most effective translation strategies, approaches, and tools, they should seek the counsel and input of languages professionals and citizens.

The province should not absolve itself of its linguistic responsibilities towards its citizens. Rather than wait for citizens to file complaints or for crises to escalate due to communications failures, why not adopt a proactive approach? Why not move towards to a multilingual model of crisis communication from the outset rather than an English-first approach? This, I argue, would be a step towards better linguistic equity in Manitoba.

-Renée Desjardins, Ph.D. (elle – she/her)
Professeure agrégée | Associate Professor
École de traduction – School of Translation | Études canadiennes – Canadian Studies
Université de Saint-Boniface

Selected references:

Desjardins, R. (2022). Hello/Bonjour won't cut it in a health crisis: an analysis of language policy and translation strategy across Manitoban websites and social media during COVID-19. In Lee, T.K. & Wang, D. (2022), Translation and Social Media Communication in the Age of the Pandemic. London & New York: Routledge.

MBReady. (2025). Wildfire Information. https://www.gov.mb.ca/wildfire/index.html Accessed June 24 2025. 

Statistics Canada. (2021). Manitoba. https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2021/dp-pd/prof/search-recherche/lst/results-resultats.cfm?Lang=E&GEOCODE=46. Accessed June 24 2025. 

Additional Notes and Resources from the editors:

On June 10th while citizens and advocates were complaining about the lack of multilingual communication during the wildfires, the government of Manitoba launched an online consultation to make Manitoba a truly bilingual province. This consultation was announced in March and initially planned to be launched in April.

Le 10 Juin, pendant que les citoyens et activistes soulignaient le manque de communication multilingue lors des feux, le gouvernement du Manitoba a lancé une consultation en ligne destinée à faire du Manitoba une province véritablement bilingue. Cette consultation avait été annoncée en mars et initialement prévue pour être lancée en avril.

Official consultation links: 

FR: https://participationmb.ca/une-province-bilingue

EN: https://engagemb.ca/a-bilingual-province

Launch announcement from Radio-Canada: https://ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelle/2171044/province-bilingue-consultation-francophonie

Statement Endorsed by the Canadian Language Industry Association

The above article highlights a pressing issue that CLIA has long advocated for: the urgent need for multilingual crisis communication. While not authored by CLIA, this piece reflects our shared concerns about linguistic equity and the risks posed by English-only emergency messaging. We believe that all levels of government must ensure timely, accurate, and inclusive communication in Canada’s official languages and, where appropriate, in Indigenous and other commonly spoken languages. CLIA endorses the principles outlined below and urges policymakers to take immediate action to implement more inclusive, multilingual emergency communication strategies.

Déclaration approuvée par l'Association canadienne de l'industrie de la langue

L'article ci-dessus met en lumière une question délicate pour la résolution de laquelle l'ACIL milite depuis longtemps : le besoin urgent d'une communication multilingue en situation de crise. Bien qu'il n'ait pas été rédigé par l'ACIL, il reflète nos préoccupations communes concernant l'équité linguistique et les risques posés par la publication de messages d'urgence en anglais uniquement. Nous estimons que tous les niveaux de gouvernement doivent assurer une communication rapide, précise et inclusive dans les langues officielles du Canada et, le cas échéant, dans les langues autochtones et les autres langues couramment parlées. L'ACIL soutien les principes énoncés ci-dessous et exhorte les décideurs à prendre immédiatement des mesures pour mettre en œuvre des stratégies de communication d'urgence plus inclusives et multilingues.