Conservative MP calls on Ottawa to 'get serious' about wildfires, criticizes forest ban

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OTTAWA — Conservative MP Michelle Rempel Garner says the federal government needs to do more to fight Canada’s devastating forest fires.

Speaking to reporters Wednesday in Ottawa, the Alberta MP accused Ottawa of “inaction” on wildfires. She also blamed that lack of action for new measures restricting activities in the forests of two provinces — even though those bans were imposed by the provinces themselves.

Nova Scotia and New Brunswick last week banned hiking, fishing, camping and the use of vehicles in its forests in response to the heightened wildfire risk.

Rempel Garner said that while she understands the fear Maritimers feel, restricting individuals’ movements is “not right.

“Whenever there’s a major crisis, what the Liberal government has done by their inaction has conditioned Canadians to expect that the only response they can see out of their federal government is to restrict their movement,” Rempel Garner told reporters.

“We’re calling on the federal government to actually get serious about this issue.”

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Conservative MP Marc Dalton presented a bill last year to stiffen penalties for wildfires caused by arson. It never made it past first reading and died when Parliament was dissolved ahead of this year’s election.

Rempel Garner said that’s one area where the Liberals could have taken action on wildfires. She also called on the federal government to dedicate more resources to wildfire control.

In its 2021 election platform, the Liberals promised to train 1,000 community-based firefighters to fight wildfires and to work with provinces and territories to get them more firefighting planes.

Last month, Ontario Premier Doug Ford told reporters that Alberta-based water bomber manufacturer De Havilland was facing a four-year backlog of orders.

“Four full wildfire seasons ago, the Liberals promised more water bombers, more firefighters,” Rempel Garner said. “Where are they?”

Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston brushed off the criticisms of the forest entry ban at a news conference later Wednesday.

“I find it remarkable, the interest in travelling in Nova Scotia woods by people who aren’t in Nova Scotia and probably haven’t been here much in their life,” Houston told reporters.

“We’re only concerned with keeping people safe. We’ll do what’s necessary to protect lives, and that’s what we’re doing in this case.”

So far this season, the total area of the country burned by wildfires is nearly the size of New Brunswick.

— With files from Sarah Ritchie.