‘It’s just outrageous. I know most people down there understand that we also send help to support them with their wildfires,’ the Ontario NDP leader said<\/p>\n
Premier Doug Ford and Ontario NDP leader Marit Stiles agree on one thing \u2013 the U.S. criticisms of Canadian wildfire smoke billowing south are \u201ca bit rich.\u201d<\/p>\n
As communities across the province and the United States dealt with heavy smoke this week, both leaders have pushed back against the U.S. response \u2013 including President Donald Trump\u2019s threat to increase\u00a0tariffs on Canada<\/a> after his country was \u201cunnecessarily invaded by filthy, polluted, and unhealthy air.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt’s just outrageous. I know most people down there understand that we also send help to support them with their wildfires,\u201d Stiles told SooToday.<\/p>\n \u201cI find it a bit rich coming from a president who has frankly denied climate change and done very little to build good relations between us and the United States. It’s unfortunate, but I think we just have to ignore it at this point.\u201d<\/p>\n Premier Ford was also quick to remind his U.S. counterparts of the help Canada has provided in the past, raising his own concerns after a chorus of U.S. officials grew irate with the situation \u2013 including Ohio Sen. Bernie Moreno\u2019s call for sanctions against Canada.<\/a><\/p>\n “If there’s some politicians out there chirping away, well maybe what you should do rather than complain is send support, send help, because we have done the exact same thing for our American friends. That’s what you’re supposed to do,” Ford said on Friday.<\/p>\n That\u2019s where the agreement between the two Ontario leaders ends.<\/p>\n As close to 200 wildfires blaze across the province, Stiles said she has long heard wildland firefighters are unprepared when wildfire season takes off.<\/p>\n Although Ford has said his government \u201cwill not spare a penny\u201d in the effort, she said the key issue is that not enough money is budgeted from the start \u2013 leading to situations where there isn\u2019t enough funding to adequately prepare for wildfires.<\/p>\n “I appreciate that they have the money and they’re willing to spend anything, but the point is that wildland firefighters are saying very clearly, and they have been for years,\u00a0that there isn’t reliable, consistent funding.”<\/p>\n The provincial government spent $271 million fighting wildfires last year \u2013 double its $135 million budget \u2013 and set aside $150 million to take on wildfires in 2026<\/p>\n \u201cWe need advanced planning, and we need staff on the ground. You can’t simply respond to it,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cIt’s like any emergency \u2013 if you don’t have people ready to go right away, and you’re trying to patch it all together down the road, you’re missing out on critical time, critical opportunities.\u201d<\/p>\n Among the improvements Stiles would like to see are pay increases for wildland firefighters, along with ensuring they have the equipment and tools they need to tackle wildfires before the season begins.<\/p>\n \u201cWe need to make sure that our wildland firefighters are paid competitively with the rest of the country, and we need to make sure there are incentives to keep them in Ontario season to season,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cDon’t wait until the fires start. Plan ahead \u2013 it’s the most basic thing that we ask everybody to do. Certainly, people should be able to expect that from their government.\u201d<\/p>\n In her conversations with First Nations and within her own caucus, Stiles said she has heard that numerous communities sounded the alarm for weeks without hearing back from the Ministry of Natural Resources.<\/p>\n \u201cThat’s because we are not appropriately funding for wildfire response,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Premier can yell all he wants to about this, but that’s what people on the ground are saying. That’s not me \u2013 that’s the front line wildland firefighters and the people whose communities have been impacted again and again.\u201d<\/p>\n Residents from numerous northern Ontario communities have been forced to evacuate due to encroaching wildfires,\u00a0with some already losing their homes.<\/p>\n In Namaygoosisagagun First Nation, roughly 250 km north of Thunder Bay, residents fled by boat\u00a0as fire overtook their community \u2013 a terrifying scene captured in viral social media posts this week.<\/a><\/p>\n Stiles said she will arrive in Thunder Bay on Tuesday to meet with First Nations leaders and people from evacuated communities.<\/p>\n \u201cI’m definitely going to be looking deeper into that after people are actually safe. That’s the priority,\u201d Stiles said.<\/p>\n \u201cBut afterwards, I think we need to really dig in and figure out what the hell went wrong here.\u201d<\/p>\n