Yesterday afternoon, Graydon Smith, Ontario’s Minister of Natural Resources and Forestry, announced an increase in funding to help attract and retain forest firefighters for the 2024 fire season.
“Wildland firefighting staff work tirelessly under very difficult conditions to protect the health and safety of Ontarians, their property and our natural resources. This is a respected and challenging career in our natural resources sector,” said Smith.
An additional $1,000 will be provided to employees and frontline positions for the 2024 fire season, “in recognition of the valuable support they provide,” Smith explained. More than 1,000 staff will benefit from this incentive, Smith added.
He noted that these additional funds complement “ongoing efforts to support fire ranger staff,” including “expanding eligibility for standby and on-call pay, reimbursing eligible expenses related to training” and “providing $500 annually towards the cost of safety boots.”
As for available fire rangers, Smith said the team is looking good.
“Our recruitment window has been open already this year, and we’re at or slightly above where we were last year in terms of the number of people that we have,” Smith said. These additional funds, “will be an important piece though in terms of attracting more people and being able to form more crews.”
Smith said he’s been having “lots of conversations” with leaders in the North, with municipalities and First Nations, “to get a sense of what they’re hearing” regarding our upcoming fire season. He mentioned the concern about the lack of snow and the drier conditions.
However, “you can’t draw a straight line” from that information to the conclusion that “it’s going to be a very severe fire season,” Smith emphasized. “But I think you know we are all taking a very realistic” approach to the summer ahead, with “eyes wide open to what we need to do to prepare for the fire season that’s ahead of us.”
“The fire rangers love their job,” Smith said, “and the government is here to support them.”
The government is also taking action to support the wildland fire program with the creation of more than 100 permanent positions to meet the demands of escalated and increasingly complex fire seasons. These positions will contribute to building leadership and experience within our wildland fire program by adding new year-round positions that will support career path opportunities for fire rangers and other staff says a news release.
But the NDP is calling out the "Ford government’s insufficient funding and lackluster plan" to prepare the province for wildland forest fire season.
“Ford's Conservatives clearly undermine the critical role that wildland firefighters play in keeping our communities safe,” said Guy Bourgouin (Mushkegowuk—James Bay), critic for Natural Resources and Forestry. " Wildland fire rangers’ demands are clear. This lump sum will not fix years of chronic underfunding and disrespect. We need full crews and better retention; our province cannot rely on foreign aid much longer.”
“The Conservatives continue to ignore the perspective of wildland firefighters on the front lines,” added Jamie West (Sudbury), critic for Labour, Training and Skills Development. “Instead, they chose a PR stunt to try to avoid criticism that fails to address longstanding concerns. They continue to put workers and Ontarians at risk, and it cannot stand."
“Why is Ford so disrespectful of wildland firefighters?” said Lise Vaugeois (Thunder Bay—Superior North), critic for WSIB and Injured Workers. “Under this government, wildland firefighters are poorly paid, poorly protected, part-time, and treated as disposable workers. It’s shameful.”
