Jagmeet Singh calls for supports for front-line workers and communities dealing with climate disasters « Canada’s NDP
A record 11 million hectares of land have been burned to ash this wildfire season and over 100,000 people have already had to flee their homes.
HAY RIVER — On Tuesday, Canada’s NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh was in Hay River, Northwest Territories calling on the federal government to provide more support for front-line workers fighting wildfires and greater investment in climate disaster mitigation for municipalities and Indigenous communities to better prepare and respond to climate disaster.
Singh wants the federal government to begin with additional training, better equipment including a pooled emergency stockpile of wildfire fighting equipment, and more initial attack crews to extinguish fires before they spread as well as an increase to the Firefighter Tax Credit to give volunteer firefighters some financial help.
“Residents of Hay River know all about extreme-weather events and, sadly, they aren’t alone,” said Singh. “Across the country, climate disasters are threatening everything we value. We have lost three firefighters and a pilot who died on the frontlines, fighting wildfires and the smoke from these blazes is making it hard for Canadians to breath. It’s clear that the federal government needs to do more to prevent these climate related extreme weather events and to support the brave men and women who risk everything to protect our homes and communities.”
In May, Hay River and the K’atl’odeeche First Nation were evacuated as they fled a ferocious wildfire burning dangerously close to the South Slave communities. The year before, they had to evacuate because of historic flooding in the area – causing more than $174 million in damage to homes, businesses and infrastructure in the communities.
Under Trudeau, Canada is warming up two times faster than the rest of the planet and close to $8 billion of promised funding has been either unspent or delayed since 2016.
“Justin Trudeau likes to make climate announcements for show – but his government’s record just doesn’t stand up. And Pierre Poilievre would let big oil do whatever they wanted and call it climate action – stacking the deck even further for rich oil CEOs and failing to prevent climate disasters while ignoring the devastating costs to Canadians.
The Northwest Territories need meaningful action from the federal government to address the climate crisis fueling extreme weather disasters and more support for front-line workers, residents and communities dealing with the impact.”