The federal government has quietly measured public appetite for creating a national wildfire agency after Canadians told Privy Council researchers that Ottawa’s response to recent fire seasons has been ineffective and overly dependent on the military.Blacklock's Reporter says internal records show cabinet commissioned focus groups to gauge support for a federally run forest fire service, modelled in part on the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency. Participants said Ottawa’s handling of wildfires in recent years fell short and failed to adequately protect affected communities.Canadians “described having a negative impression of the Government of Canada’s wildfire response in recent years, believing it could have been more effective in providing assistance to individuals and communities that had been impacted by these natural disasters,” said a Privy Council report. While deployments of the Canadian Armed Forces were seen as helpful, the response was criticized as “mostly reactive on the part of the federal government.”The report concluded Ottawa needed to shift its focus away from emergency reaction and toward prevention and mitigation. “A greater focus needed to be placed on mitigating and preventing large scale wildfires going forward,” said the document, titled Continuous Qualitative Data Collection Of Canadians’ Views..Findings were based on focus groups conducted in Alberta and Saskatchewan under a $1.6 million contract with Toronto-based polling firm The Strategic Counsel.When asked what more Ottawa could do, participants suggested establishing a national wildfire prevention task force, hiring and training more firefighters, and creating a rapid-deployment system capable of sending crews anywhere in the country as fires erupt.The report is dated July 30. Less than three weeks later, Emergency Management Minister Eleanor Olszewski acknowledged publicly that Canada relies too heavily on the Armed Forces and Royal Canadian Air Force to fight wildfires.“Building long-term resilience with respect to these wildfires and other emergencies is not just a government priority, it really is a personal commitment of mine,” Olszewski told reporters August 18. She said Ottawa is working on a plan to better support provinces and territories and improve coordination during emergencies.Pressed by reporters about continued military deployments, Olszewski conceded the issue has become a concern. “That is definitely an issue,” she said. “It’s part of the reason why we need to strengthen the system.”“You’re absolutely right, this is not their primary responsibility,” Olszewski added. “We’ve been incredibly lucky to have the assistance of the Armed Forces for this wildfire season, but we do need to look at resilience and how we better manage resources to lessen the load.”Provinces and territories currently rely on a mutual aid system operated through the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre, created in 1982. .Witnesses at 2023 hearings of the Commons defence committee testified that the arrangement is no longer sufficient for today’s wildfire seasons.Alberta Deputy Premier Mike Ellis told MPs the military should be viewed only as a last resort. “As much as we love our armed forces they have very basic training when it comes to firefighting and certainly by no means at the same level as a structural firefighter,” he said.Asked by Conservative MP Cheryl Gallant whether a national firefighting entity could work alongside provinces, Ellis said the idea deserved serious consideration. “I think it is certainly worth exploring,” he replied.
