Canada is committed to doing more to prevent and control devastating wildfires, federal officials said Tuesday as the resulting smoke sparks formal complaints and calls for action from U.S. lawmakers.
But Corey Hogan, parliamentary secretary to the federal energy and natural resources minister, added the growing spread of blazes and smoke beyond Canada’s borders underscores the need for an international fight against climate change that scientists say is fueling more destructive wildfire seasons.
“There’s no people that want to do more about wildfires than Canadians,” Hogan told reporters in Calgary after announcing $45.7 million in funding for wildfire prevention and risk assessment research projects. “We’ve seen this in the smoke that clogs our cities, we’ve seen this in our communities that are evacuated.
“But I think this also underlines the international challenges that are brought on by climate change. The consequences do not rest in one jurisdiction, which is why we need to globally tackle this problem, and it’s going to require the work of people across the globe to make the world safer again.”
A group of Republican state lawmakers from Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota and North Dakota last week filed a formal complaint against Canada to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin and the International Joint Commission, a binational organization that resolves disputes on shared water and air quality.
The Republican lawmakers called for an investigation of Canada’s wildfire management practices and for potential remedies under international law.
Republican politicians at other levels of government have also been voicing concerns about Canada’s wildfires.
Last month, Michigan Rep. John James sent a letter to Prime Minister Mark Carney saying his constituents are choking on toxic wildfire smoke, after another group of Republican members of Congress expressed similar concerns to Canada’s Ambassador to the U.S. Kirsten Hillman earlier in July.
Canada is seeing its second-worst wildfire season on record, with fires burning in a majority of provinces across the country and spreading firefighting resources thin.