Wildfires a Dire Warning
Recent years have seen a sharp escalation of Canadian wildfires, signalling that the climate emergency is here in full force. 2023 was the most destructive wildfire season ever recorded in Canada, torching more than 15M hectares of land – an area larger than England. Last year was among the worst wildfire seasons Canada has ever had and, this year, 1M hectares have already burned across Manitoba and Saskatchewan. Tens of thousands of people have been forced from their communities, and extremely high-risk smoke levels have blanketed the country leaving parts of Canada with some of the worst air quality in the world.
Meanwhile, the Liberal government is proposing Bill C-5 to provide Ministers in Cabinet with overreaching powers to bypass environmental assessments, water down constitutional obligations to Indigenous peoples, and compromise worker health and safety to fast-track oil, gas, and resource extraction projects. At a time of unprecedented wildfires, this bill is in total disrespect to the communities and evacuees suffering devastating losses due to climate change.
We Need Action Now
For years, the NDP has been advocating for investment in climate mitigation planning, including forest protection, firefighting equipment, and evacuation infrastructure for remote communities. We must urgently allocate resources to save lives now, and make sure that investments are in place to help communities across Canada face future climate disasters.
At the same time, we must reject the expansion of Canada’s non-renewable resource extraction economy that lines the pockets of oil and gas oligarchs at the cost of our homes, Nations, and habitats. We must invest in clean energy and decarbonization while making big polluters pay their fair share to address the climate emergency they have caused.