LILLEY: When wildfires strike, facts matter more than politics

As Ontario battles a record wildfire season, critics from Marit Stiles to Donald Trump are pointing fingers – the reality is far more complex

Published Jul 17, 2026  •  Last updated 2 hours ago  •  3 minute read

People sit near the Brooklyn Bridge as wildfire smoke from Canada causes hazy conditions in New York on July 16, 2026. Photo by Angela Weiss /AFP via Getty Images

As wildfires burn across Ontario, unlikely allies are teaming up to say that Premier Doug Ford isn’t doing enough.

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NDP Leader Marit Stiles is finding herself in the company of U.S. President Donald Trump and other stateside Republicans in saying Ontario isn’t doing enough to stop forest fires.

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While Stiles is claiming, falsely, that Ford has cut the firefighting budget, Trump is claiming that Canada as a whole isn’t managing its forests properly.

“We are holding Canada responsible for the fact that they are not properly maintaining their Forests, and Brush therein, and the United States is being unnecessarily invaded by filthy, polluted, and unhealthy air,” Trump posted on his Truth Social account.

He went on to say that the cost to the United States for the smoke-filled air should be recouped through increased tariffs on Canada.

People look toward the downtown skyline from the Toronto Islands as forest fires in Northern Ontario cause poor air quality over the city on July 15, 2026. AFP via Getty Images

Trump’s blame game

It has become common for American politicians to blame Canada for smoke-filled skies. The truth is that the same winds carrying smoke from Northern Ontario are also carrying smoke from wildfires in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan to the American Northeast.

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There is even a wildfire in Rockbridge County, Virginia, sending smoke plumes toward Washington.

Blaming Canada is easier, though.

Trump’s claim that we don’t manage our forests and brush properly isn’t exactly accurate. Some jurisdictions, such as California, have moved away from managing brush or conducting prescribed burns over the years. While Parks Canada has taken similar measures in some national parks, that isn’t the case with provincial forest management.

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Prescribed burns are still part of Ontario’s forest management practices.

The problem this year is that, while the focus is on communities like Collins First Nation, which was largely destroyed by fire, most of the fires are burning in remote, unpopulated areas.

These are among the most difficult fires to fight.

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Currently, there are 191 wildfires burning in Ontario, covering more than 650,000 hectares, according to Premier Doug Ford. That is a land mass larger than the total area burned by all Ontario wildfires in 2025.

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What the numbers actually show

If you were to listen to NDP Leader Marit Stiles, the reason is that Ford has cut the budget for fighting wildfires.

“This is the result of choices,” Stiles said in a video she posted online. “Doug Ford chose to ignore Ontario’s climate commitments. He chose to let Ontario’s wildland firefighting force shrink year after year.”

Stiles, like many uninformed critics of Ford, wants to claim he is spending less on fighting wildfires than in years past. Even The New York Times made the claim in an article published earlier this week, stating that in 2025 the province spent $271 million fighting wildfires but budgeted just $150 million this year.

While that is accurate, it completely lacks context.

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The $150 million budgeted for 2026 is the base budget for wildfires, up from a base budget of $135 million in 2025. Each year, regardless of who is in government, Ontario sets a base budget for fighting wildfires and then spends whatever is needed based on the severity of the fire season.

Some years the province spends less, and some years it spends more. It all depends on how many fires there are.

Stiles has been around long enough to know this, but she has also been around long enough to know she can easily mislead the public by omitting key details.

Ford called it “despicable and disgusting” that some politicians are politicizing the issue and “putting false information out.” He pointed to increases in the number of firefighters hired, additional equipment on hand and the higher base budget.

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Time for facts, not politics

There is always something to criticize the Ford government for, but let’s base those criticisms in reality and stick to the facts.

And while the wildfires are still burning, let’s focus first on making sure everyone is safe.

There will be plenty of time for finger-pointing and questioning the handling of these fires once the crisis has passed.

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