Ontario Premier Doug Ford pushed back sharply after criticism from the United States over smoke from massive forest fires in his province, calling the remarks about Canada’s efforts to contain the blazes “absolutely unacceptable.”
“We’re trying to get through this,” Mr Ford said, stressing that Canada would not hesitate to help if the roles were reversed. If the United States were battling wildfires, he added, “we’re going to be down there to support our neighbors.”
President Donald Trump blamed what he called incompetent Canadian forest management for the smoke and said yesterday he would add the “incalculable cost” of dealing with the pollution to existing tariffs on Canadian goods.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Mr Ford’s remarks.
Speaking at a press briefing, Mr Ford said 655,000 hectares (1.6 million acres) of forest were burning across Ontario, Canada’s most populous province.
“My heart breaks for the people who have lost their homes or their camps and their businesses,” Mr Ford said. He added that he has instructed his ministers there is “no limit” on spending to protect people across the province.
Trump should drop softwood lumber tariffs – Ford
Mr Ford argued that if Mr Trump wants Canada to thin and clear forested areas, Washington should start by removing US tariffs on softwood lumber.
Allowing Canada to ship softwood lumber into the United States without tariffs “would resolve a lot of the issues we face right now,” Mr Ford said.
Federal Emergencies Minister Eleanor Olszewski said late yesterday that the Canadian Armed Forces would use aircraft to evacuate residents of Fort Hope in sparsely populated northwestern Ontario, where some of the most intense fires are burning.
The region has few roads and relies heavily on air travel.
A wildfire in Boston Bar, British Columbia, Canada
Thousands of people have already evacuated to cities farther south in Ontario.
Large-scale forest fires have increasingly become part of Canada’s summer reality, in a country that contains some of the world’s largest forests.
Climate experts say rising temperatures have led to drier timber and increased fire risk.
More favourable weather expected
The federal Natural Resources Department said 69 new fires were reported overnight in Canada, bringing the national total to 955.
Nearly 11,000 square miles (28,500 square km) have burned so far a figure that remains well below the five-year average.
Even so, winds have driven smoke across the Canada-US border, leading officials in parts of the United States to issue air quality alerts and health warnings.
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Earlier, the US Environmental Protection Agency’s Air Now site rated air as “unhealthy” across a broad area that included southern Ontario, eastern parts of Ohio and West Virginia, most of Pennsylvania and New Jersey, much of Virginia, and all of Maryland, Delaware and Washington DC.
Parts of western Pennsylvania, including Pittsburgh, were rated “very unhealthy.”
AirNow said conditions in those areas were expected to improve during the day.
Smoke from the Canadian fires is expected to have only a minimal impact on tomorrow’s soccer World Cup final at New York New Jersey Stadium, forecaster AccuWeather said on Friday.
In Ontario, wildfire activity has eased over the past 24 hours and “much more favorable weather” is forecast in the coming days, according to Mike Harris, the Canadian province’s natural resources minister.
