Last February, Calvin Township passed a resolution calling on the province and the country to better prepare for forest fires. Council put together a list of suggestions and recommendations, and send it out to municipalities throughout the province, and to many provincial and federal government officials.
The provincial government recently responded, but the federal government has yet to acknowledge Calvin’s request to create a national strategy to prepare for and fight forest fires.
“I’m disappointed that we haven’t heard from the federal government,” Calvin’s Mayor Richard Gould said. “I think we have to look at being a little more proactive,” in creating a national strategy.
See: Calvin Township sparks national wildfire measures
Mayor Gould mentioned that for a federal government so focused on reducing carbon emissions, he’s surprised he has yet to hear from leaders about the township’s proposals. The Government of Canada detailed that last year “wildfire season was the most destructive ever recorded,” torching 16.5 million hectares of land.
That’s a land mass the size of Greece, the government noted, and more than double the 1989 record. Usually, about 2.5 million hectares burn away in our country each year.
Those fires release massive amounts of carbon dioxide, and Mayor Gould contends that preventing and curbing these wildfires should be integral to the country’s environmental plan. He’s read reports that “the amount of carbon released into the atmosphere as a result of forest fires was more than the entire country produced.”
However, he added, “the Paris Accords don’t include carbon from forest fires,” and to reach those targets “we’re focusing on spending money and reducing carbon by having carbon taxes for the people, but the elephant in the room is the tonnes of carbon released by forest fires.”
As the feds continue to neglect Calvin’s call, Mayor Gould is pleased to see the province is taking notice.
See: Calvin Township’s forest fire resolution igniting municipalities
Recently, Graydon Smith, the Minister of Natural Resources and Forestry, wrote to the township, detailing some of the province’s new initiatives. Smith is the MPP for Parry Sound – Muskoka and the former mayor of Bracebridge.
His letter outlined that over $5 million is going toward retention bonuses to help keep firefighters on the front line. More recruitment efforts will be made, and as the “fire season unfolds, we will continue to dedicate necessary resources to ensure the safety and protection of our communities.”
Smith noted the ministry “has initiated a review to understand how best to modernize our wildfire and other natural hazard programs.” He also noted that FireSmart is a national program administered by the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre “that helps Canadians understand their wildland fire risk and decrease the likelihood of the associated negative impacts.”
See: Ontario spending $5 million to attract firefighters
Absent from Smith’s letter was any mention of increasing the stock of water bombers in our province, a specific suggestion the township made in its proposal. BayToday has also been asking if more water bombers are coming, but the ministry hasn’t answered.
Overall, “I’m very happy with Minister Smith’s letter,” the mayor said, “I think those are all really good intentions that he’s talking about,” yet still, “we need to get into the water bomber game and get some Canadian-built water bombers flying over this country.”
The province remains quiet on that, but perhaps the feds will break the silence once it responds to Calvin’s call.
David Briggs is a Local Journalism Initiative reporter who works out of BayToday, a publication of Village Media. The Local Journalism Initiative is funded by the Government of Canada.
