Midwestern Republicans blaming Canada, levelling threats for drifting wildfire smoke

Article content

Article content

The Republican politicians are also forgetting that Canada came to the aid of U.S. firefighters when they faced devastating blazes in the Los Angeles area in early 2025. As reported by National Post, firefighters and supplies from across Canada were sent to the aid of weary L.A. fire crews battling several fires across the city.

Article content

Ontario sent 65 urban firefighters. Alberta and B.C. joined in the fight too.

Article content

“We are preparing to deploy incident command team support to California, as well as additional wildfire-fighting resources, including water bombers and night-vision helicopters,” Smith said in a post on X.

Article content

Quebec’s forest fire protection agency, SOPFEU, sent two water bombers and crews. Two planes are sent to the U.S. each fall as part of an annual contract, extended in 2025 because of the L.A. emergency.

Article content

The Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre (CIFFC) responded to a request from the National Interagency Fire Center in the U.S. for two CL-415 skimmer air tankers with flight crews to operate in southern California. The CIFFC shares resources within Canada and also with the U.S.

Article content

Article content

According to the CIFFCa Diplomatic Note signed with the United States authorizes resource sharing across the international boundary: “The Canada/United States Reciprocal Forest Fire Fighting Arrangement (CANUS) combined with several other exemptions allows for quick movement of resources across the international border, essential during an escalated fire season. The CIFFC Coordination Centre maintains daily contact with the National Interagency Coordination Center (NICC) in Boise Idaho to coordinate resource sharing between the two countries.”

Article content

Even still, when wildfire season struck in Canada last summer and the impact on American air quality became a hot topic between the countries’ governments, the Trump administration urged Canada to emphasize “forest management” as an antidote.

Article content

As reported by National Post, the head of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said at the time that the two nations don’t necessarily agree on the role of such measures.

Article content

EPA chief Lee Zeldin made the comment during a late 2025 meeting of G7 environment and energy ministers in Toronto. He noted pressure from politicians in states affected by drifting smoke led to “a lot of engagement” with Environment Canada.

Article content

Article content

“The impacts on the northern United States led to a lot of advocacy and questions coming from United States governors and congressional delegations and others,” he told a news conference during the G7 gathering.

Article content

However, he acknowledged parallels between what “Canada experienced” and “California experienced last January,” adding that this highlights the need to lean into forest management.

Article content

That includes management techniques like controlled burns, clearing away combustible debris from forest floors and creating fire breaks. But Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew rejected the U.S. critiques, noting that most of the fires in his province were simply started by lightning strikes in remote locations. In those places, he added, preventive measures were all but impossible.

Article content

Lori Daniels, forestry professor at the University of British Columbia, also countered American finger-pointing.

Article content

“If the United States wants to contribute to a global solution, they need to reduce their greenhouse-gas emissions,” said Daniels. “Given that they are in the top-three of greenhouse-gas emitters, maybe the onus could go back to them for some of that responsibility.”

Article content

Article content