SENATORS’ STATEMENTS — Wildfire Management

Honourable senators, I rise today with a deep sense of urgency, a sense felt most acutely by families who have lost businesses, homes and communities to the wildfires now sweeping across our country.

In the north and central regions of Saskatchewan, 24 wildfires remain active; 6 are uncontained. More than 19 communities are under evacuation orders or alerts. More than 15,000 people, many from Indigenous and remote communities, have had to flee their homes, often without warning and often without a place to return.

Nationwide, 1,860 wildfires have already burned more than 3.1 million hectares, surpassing typical early-season levels. Smoke from these fires has reached the United States and Europe prompting transboundary air quality alerts.

Last year, the Standing Senate Committee on Agriculture and Forestry, or AGFO, heard testimony from government officials, fire ecologists, scientists, ranchers and northern residents. What did they say? They said it’s personal. Wildfires are not abstract events; they are lived disasters. They tear people from the land in which they are spiritually and culturally rooted. They destroy livelihoods, pasture and food security. They leave trauma that lasts long after the flames have gone and, too often, the supports for those affected are fragmented, delayed or simply absent.

AGFO heard that we must be better prepared. This is costing the Canadian economy billions of dollars now on a yearly basis. We must invest in prescribed burns, protect critical infrastructure in remote communities and build up the front-line workforce.

We must integrate Indigenous knowledge with modern science. These are not radical ideas. They are common sense and proven tools.

The United States has the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA. Australia has the National Emergency Management Agency, or NEMA. We need a uniquely Canadian and equally robust national response mechanism. We need to match the courage of those who fight fires. We need to act for the sake of those living under the smoke-filled skies, uncertain if their homes will survive the havoc.

Let us honour the good work of our colleagues on the Agriculture and Forestry Committee who have worked hard to lay a foundation to summon the political will to do what this moment demands. I encourage the committee to complete its study.

We are in an era of climate-driven disasters. Let us not meet it with inertia. Let us meet it with national-building purpose. Thank you.