Parks Canada executives feared “public and political perception” in managing fire hazards in Jasper, internal emails obtained through Access To Information show. The agency’s internal emails, released Tuesday by Conservative MP Dan Mazier, are dated only months before wildfire destroyed a third of the town, per Blacklock’s Reporter.Mazier called the staff emails “very disturbing.” “Another example of Justin Trudeau’s radical environment minister putting political gain over environmental gain,” he said. The Department of Environment did not comment.The staff emails are dated February 21, months before the July 24 wildfire that burned 358 buildings in Jasper.“This morning we talked about doing a regional (plan) specifically on a potential widespread fire event. Alberta fire season officially started today,” wrote Parks Canada managers, expressing unease with fire preparedness. “Field units have developed individual plans but we have not had a chance to thoroughly contemplate a concurrent multi-incident, multi-field unit scenario,” they wrote.“Of course, what any region can accomplish in this type of scenario is dependent on support from elsewhere in the system so we would need a way to prioritize incidents on a national basis. Is this type of conversation already in the works for this year?”Jonah Mitchell, executive director of Parks Canada’s Prairie division, warned of negative media coverage if the agency organized a controlled burn of dead pine, a routine forest management practice. “At what point do we make the organizational decision to cancel planned prescribed burns in Western Canada?” asked Mitchell.“As more and more media articles raise public concern over drought conditions, public and political perception may become more important than actual prescription windows.” He did not explain.Parks Canada to date has refused to disclose internal records detailing forest management and any federal liability for the July wildfire. Management had assured MPs it was aware of the fire risk posed by thousands of hectares of dead pine following a beetle infestation, but that controlled burns were curtailed.A 2022 Jasper National Park Management Plan acknowledged the necessity of “wildfire risk reduction measures around the Jasper townsite” including controlled burns. Almost half of Jasper’s pine forest, 44 percent, was killed off by beetles.“Fire has not yet been applied for Whitebark Pine restoration,” said a 2022 implementation report. Alternative cutting of dead trees occurred in only “a small area,” it said.
