Leading Through A Disaster: With Former Flin Flon CAO
- Municipal Affairs
- Jun 26
- 2 min read
Before today's conversation, it's worth reflecting on what leadership looks like when a community faces a crisis.
When an emergency unfolds, there is rarely a perfect plan. Events move minute by minute. New information arrives constantly. Decisions often have to be made in seconds, sometimes with only part of the picture available. In those moments, leaders are tasked with balancing uncertainty, risk, and responsibility.
Sometimes things go wrong. Sometimes things go right. But either way, the weight of an entire community can rest on the shoulders of a small group of people charged with protecting it.
In local government, that responsibility often falls to the Chief Administrative Officer. While residents may see firefighters, police officers, paramedics, and emergency responders on the front lines, behind the scenes, CAOs are working alongside emergency management teams and municipal staff to coordinate resources, maintain essential services, protect critical infrastructure, and support the difficult decisions that must be made under extraordinary circumstances.
That brings us to today's story.
On May 28, 2025, residents of Flin Flon, Mathias Colomb Cree Nation, and Pimicikamak Cree Nation were told to evacuate their homes as rapidly advancing wildfires threatened communities across northern Manitoba. That same day, the Province of Manitoba declared a province-wide state of emergency. Thousands of people were forced to leave their communities, many travelling south in one of the largest evacuation efforts in recent provincial history.
At the centre of that response in Flin Flon was then-Chief Administrative Officer Lyn Brown. As the crisis unfolded, Brown worked alongside municipal administration, emergency services, and provincial partners to help coordinate the community's response and ensure residents could evacuate safely.
Today, we'll speak with Lyn Brown about what it means to lead during a disaster, the unique role a CAO plays when a community is under threat, and what municipal leaders can do to prepare for situations that, by their very nature, are impossible to fully predict.
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