President Donald Trump has announced the "cost" Canada will have to pay for wildfire smoke migrating towards the US borders is increased tariffs."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, the quality of which is dangerous, and totally unacceptable!" stated Trump in a post Friday on Truth Social."This is Willful Negligence, and becoming a yearly occurrence, costing the United States Billions of Dollars, which cost of this pollution must of necessity be added to the TARIFFS Canada is currently paying.”Trump is the most recent of many US politicians to express their complaints over the smoke being pushed by winds towards US' Midwest and Northeast, affecting cities like Minneapolis, Chicago, and Detroit — which currently have some of the worst air quality in the world..Reported by CTV News, US representatives Jack Bergman, John James, Lisa McClain, and John Moolenaar wrote a letter, entitled "Canada’s Apologies Won’t Clear Michigan’s Skies," accusing Canada of not acting with "urgency" to address wildfire smoke in recent years."Nothing has changed except that our patience has run out,” they claimed in the letter. Of course, cities in the US are not the only ones affected by the extremely poor air quality thanks to the wildfires.Among the Canadian cities most affected, Toronto's air poses a very high health risk, while Winnipeg is not far behind with very poor air quality..As of Friday, Canada currently has 888 active wildfires, most being concentrated in the northwestern Ontario region.Out of Canada's 59 new active wildfires reported Friday, 23 have been labelled as being caused by human activity, while 23 were natural, and another 13 were undetermined.The US also has 624 active wildfires as of Friday.According to AccuWeather, many wildfires are also occurring in northern Minnesota, which is right below Ontario..Republican Representative from Michigan, Bill Huizenga claimed on X Canada needs to "fully and regularly inform appropriate US agencies such as the EPA as to the status and mitigation action plan regarding the fires."He adds the feds should work with the US to find solutions to the ongoing wildfire problem.Another politician, a Republican Representative for Michigan, Tom Barrett, shared his view from the skies prior to landing in Michigan on X, with a sky full of smoke.In the post he claims Canada must be held responsible until it "gets control of these fires," threatening to delay the opening of the Gordie Howe Bridge which is set to open at the end of July, connecting Detroit, Michigan, to Windsor, Ontario..In response to the multitude of US politician complaints, Ontario Premier Doug Ford stated at a press conference Friday he believes the American people need to be reminded "when there were wildfires in California, we had our water bombers on standby.""I truly believe the Americans are good neighbors, and if there's some politicians out there chirping away — well maybe what you should do, rather than complain, is send support," he went on to state a bit later.According to Global News, thousands of people are being evacuated across northwestern Ontario due to the concentration of wildfires.Some of the communities being evacuated include Armstrong, Whitesand First Nation, Collins First Nation, Gakijiwanong Anishinaabe Nation (Lac La Croix First Nation) and the surrounding area, and Lac des Mille Lacs First Nation and the surrounding area.
