Wildfires, which have continued to increase throughout July, have caused Canada to be labelled as "irresponsible" for allowing smoke to permeate American airspace.This is according to a few US politicians who were baffled by the smoke they have had to endure thanks to the current 897 active wildfires as of Friday, with most of them in eastern Canada blowing smoke towards parts of the US.Most of the wildfires are concentrated in northwestern Ontario, which has been blowing smoke towards the US' Midwest and Northeast, affecting cities like Minneapolis, Chicago, and Detroit — which currently have some of the worst air quality in the world.Republican Representative from Michigan, Bill Huizenga is not a fan of the smoke and its impact on his state.."Canada's inability to mitigate, contain, and prevent its wildfires must be addressed. These annual fires significantly harm not only our health and quality of life, but also our economic prosperity," he writes on X.Huizenga goes on to mention he has met with the US Ambassador to Canada, Peter Hoekstra, who, he says, has reached out to Canada's government about the wildfires.He claims the feds should be "fully and regularly inform[ing] appropriate US agencies such as the EPA as to the status and mitigation action plan regarding the fires.""I also encourage Canada to work with the US government to find concrete solutions to address their ongoing wildfire problems. Michiganders must stop paying the price for bad policy," Huizenga concluded..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.Other parts of Ontario, like Windsor, London, Kitchener, and Hamilton, to name a few, also have extremely poor air quality.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. ."This was my view flying into Lansing this afternoon because Canadian wildfire smoke is pouring into Michigan," stated Barrett."Do you think we should delay the Gordie Howe Bridge opening until Canada takes responsibility and gets control of these fires?"Barrett is referring to the bridge that is supposed to open by the end of July, which passes over the Detroit River and connects Detroit, Michigan, to Windsor, Ontario. As of Friday, the US has reported a total of 613 active wildfires.According to AccuWeather, many wildfires are also occurring in northern Minnesota, which is right below Ontario..At a press conference on Friday, Ontario Premier Doug Ford responded to the multitude of complaints being publicized by American politicians about the Canadian wildfires."I know the people of Minnesota are battling wildfires — as for other elected officials in the US, I have to remind the American people when there were wildfires in California, we had our water bombers on standby," recounted Ford."The only reason we couldn't send them was because we didn't have the water to get the water bombers filled up.""When the hurricanes happened, I think it was last year down in Georgia and North Carolina, we sent our line men down there to reconnect resources, we sent everything."."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.""Because we have done the exact same thing for our American friends, and that's what you're supposed to do."Wildfires are usually either started by lightning, or human activity.Out of Canada's 31 new active wildfires reported Friday, eight have been labelled as being caused by human activity, while 15 were natural, and another eight were undetermined..From the 897 active wildfires, 127 are currently "out of control."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.
