Ontario premier says Trump’s criticism of Canada’s efforts to stop wildfires is ‘absolutely unacceptable’
Written by: David Ljunggren and Maria Cheng
July 18 (Reuters) – Ontario Premier Doug Ford said U.S. criticism of Canada’s efforts to stop the “horrifying scenario” of wildfires spreading in his province and choking smoke across large swathes of the United States was “absolutely unacceptable.”
“We’re trying to get through this,” Ford said Saturday, adding that if the tide turns and the U.S. faces wildfires, “we’ll be there to support our neighbors.”
President Donald Trump blamed Canadian forest management for the smog as incompetent and said Friday that he would add the “incalculable cost” of fighting the pollution to existing tariffs on Canadian goods. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Ford’s remarks.
Ford said at a press conference that 655,000 hectares (1.6 million acres) of forest are burning in Ontario, Canada’s most populous province.
“My heart breaks for the people who lost their homes, their camps and their jobs,” Ford said, adding that he had told his ministers there was “no limit” on spending to protect people in the state.
TRUMP SHOULD LOWER SOFT TIMBER TARIFFS: FORD
Ford suggested that if Trump wants Canada to clear its forests, the United States should lift tariffs on softwood lumber. If Canada could ship softwood lumber to the U.S. tariff-free, “that would solve a lot of the problems we’re facing right now,” Ford said.
The Canadian Armed Forces will use aircraft to evacuate residents of Fort Hope in sparsely populated northwestern Ontario, where some of the most intense fires are burning, federal emergencies Minister Eleanor Olszewski said late Friday.
There are few roads in the region and it relies heavily on air travel. Thousands of people were evacuated to Ontario’s cities further south.
Large forest fires have become a common occurrence in Canada, home to some of the largest forests in the world. Climate experts say rising temperatures are causing timber to dry out and increase the risk of fire.
MORE SUITABLE WEATHER IS EXPECTED
The federal Natural Resources Agency said Saturday that 69 new fires were reported overnight in Canada, bringing the total to 955.
The total area burned was almost 11,000 square miles (28,500 km2), well below the five-year average. But winds carried the smoke south of the Canada-U.S. border, prompting authorities to issue air quality alerts and health advisories in some parts of the United States.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s AirNow site rated air quality as “unhealthy” as of 8 a.m. ET (1200 GMT) in a region that includes southern Ontario, eastern parts of Ohio and West Virginia, most of Pennsylvania and New Jersey, much of Virginia and all of Maryland, Delaware and Washington, D.C.
Parts of western Pennsylvania, including Pittsburgh, were rated “very unhealthy.” AirNow predicted that air quality in these areas would improve during the day.
Smoke from fires in Canada will have little impact on Sunday’s World Cup final at New York’s New Jersey Stadium, forecaster AccuWeather said Friday.
Wildfire activity in Ontario has begun to slow in the past 24 hours, and “much more positive weather” is expected over the next few days, according to Mike Harris, the Canadian province’s natural resources minister.
(Reporting by David Ljunggren and Maria Cheng in Ottawa; Additional reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt in Washington. Editing by Sergio Non, Ros Russell, Rod Nickel)
