Canadian Premier Doug Ford advocates for enhanced federal aid in the fight against widespread wildfires across the nation
In the face of a growing wildfire crisis, Ontario Premier Doug Ford has called upon the federal government to allocate more resources for fighting wildfires across Canada. The appeal comes as Ontario itself struggles to spare essential firefighting equipment and crews due to the severity of wildfires in multiple provinces.
According to Ford, nearly every province in Canada is currently battling wildfires. In Ontario, the situation is particularly challenging. Kawartha Lakes, a popular region of cottage country, is one of many municipalities with fire and burning bans in place due to extremely dry conditions.
Ontario has already sent two water bombers to Newfoundland, along with four crews, and could not spare any more for New Brunswick when they requested help. The province has also dispatched an incident management team to Saskatchewan.
However, Ontario is facing a pilot shortage for water bombers, and the arrival of new ones may take 3 to 4 years. To address this, Ford has launched a request for a national fire plan.
The issue of national resources for wildfire fighting was raised by Premiers with Prime Minister Mark Carney last month. Canada's current national plan to address the increasing number of wildfires involves a multi-faceted approach led by the federal government through Natural Resources Canada.
This strategy focuses heavily on research, knowledge mobilization, Indigenous partnership, and resilience-building rather than solely on firefighting capacity expansion. The government has recently committed significant funding to support projects that advance wildfire knowledge, improve risk assessments, and enhance mitigation practices.
Some of the key components of the plan include supporting research to improve wildfire risk assessment and mitigation strategies, promoting adaptive forest management to reduce fuel loads, empowering Indigenous communities to lead wildfire readiness and stewardship using traditional knowledge, fostering collaboration between federal, provincial, and Indigenous partners, and investing in forest and community resilience in the face of climate-driven fire risks.
While equipment and crew shortages are acknowledged challenges, the current federal initiatives prioritize a proactive approach to reducing fire risk and managing fires effectively with the resources available amid increasingly severe fire seasons. This includes increasing emergency response capacity through better funding and training, investing in innovative fire management and prevention technologies, expanding the workforce via partnerships and community engagement, and supporting Indigenous-led fire stewardship to bolster local manpower and knowledge-based fire management.
In a recent development, New Brunswick Premier Susan Holt asked Ontario for help in fighting their wildfires. This year, there have been 467 fires in Ontario, exceeding the number at the same time last year (275) and the 10-year average (583). Despite these challenges, Ontario remains committed to assisting other provinces in need during this critical time.
- Doug Ford, the Ontario Premier, has requested the federal government to allocate more resources for fighting wildfires nationwide, as Ontario itself is struggling to provide essential firefighting equipment and personnel due to the severity of wildfires in multiple provinces.
- In light of the severe wildfire situation across Canada, Premier Ford has launched a request for a national fire plan, emphasizing the need for a proactive approach to reducing fire risk and managing fires effectively with the available resources.
- The current federal initiatives focus on a multi-faceted approach to address the increasing number of wildfires, investing in research, Indigenous partnership, risk assessments, and mitigation strategies, while also promoting innovative fire management and prevention technologies.
