THUNDER BAY — Nishnawbe Aski Nation leadership declared a public state of emergency Thursday following a drug-related shooting incident in Ginoogaming First Nation that left one person dead and another in intensive care.

The declaration is a response to both this incident and “an escalating crisis” of gang infiltration, drug trafficking and drug-related violence across NAN territory, said a news release from the organization for Treaty 9 and Treaty 5 First Nations in Ontario.

NAN member nations are losing too many of their youth to jail, suicide and drug overdoses, Grand Chief Alvin Fiddler said in a news conference.

“And so our leadership … instructed us to make this declaration, and also to create a plan in partnership with our treaty partners, Ontario and Canada, to ensure that the

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