{"id":53037,"date":"2025-07-10T03:09:09","date_gmt":"2025-07-10T03:09:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/53037\/"},"modified":"2025-07-10T03:09:09","modified_gmt":"2025-07-10T03:09:09","slug":"u-s-congress-members-press-canada-to-deal-with-wildfire-smoke-ruining-their-summer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/53037\/","title":{"rendered":"U.S. Congress members press Canada to deal with wildfire smoke ruining their summer"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Smoke billows from a small wildfire burning in a neighbourhood near the Kelowna International Airport in B.C.Aaron Hemens\/The Globe and Mail<\/p>\n

The United States is complaining about another Canadian export: wildfire smoke ruining the summer in their neck of the woods.<\/p>\n

Six Republican members of the U.S. Congress have penned a public letter to Canada\u2019s ambassador in Washington, demanding that their northern neighbour do better at mitigating wildfires<\/a>, which have led to thousands of evacuations in this country and sent thick smoke billowing across the border over the past couple of months.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe write to you today on behalf of our constituents who have had to deal with suffocating Canadian wildfire smoke filling the air,\u201d reads the letter signed by House representatives Brad Finstad, Pete Stauber, Michelle Fischbach and Tom Emmer of Minnesota, along with Tom Tiffany and Glenn Grothman of Wisconsin.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile we know a key driver of this issue has been a lack of active forest management, we\u2019ve also seen things like arson as another way multiple large wildfires have ignited in Canada.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tensions between Canada and the U.S. have ratcheted this year, with President Donald Trump<\/a> launching a global trade war. On top of that, the conversation surrounding wildfires and climate change has become increasingly politicized in both countries.<\/p>\n

Wildfire smoke is affecting air quality across the country. Here\u2019s what you need to know<\/a><\/p>\n

Mr. Trump, in January, blamed wildfires in California on a \u201cworthless fish,\u201d smelt, protection for which he claimed was the reason the state lacked water to manage its wildlands. He suggested the state needs more \u201craking\u201d in forests. In Canada, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has faulted the federal government for last year\u2019s wildfire that destroyed parts of Jasper<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In a short statement to The Globe and Mail on Wednesday, Canada\u2019s embassy in the U.S. defended the government\u2019s response to wildfires.<\/p>\n

\u201cCanada takes the prevention, response, and mitigation of wildfires very seriously,\u201d wrote embassy spokesperson Tarryn Elliott, declining to provide any further details.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can confirm that the letter has been received and has been shared with the relevant Canadian agencies. We will respond in due course.\u201d<\/p>\n

In their letter, Congress members questioned Ambassador Kirsten Hillman about what they described as inaction on wildfires. Midwestern states, they said, are particularly struggling to enjoy their summer because of hazardous fumes from Canada.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur constituents have been limited in their ability to go outside,\u201d the Wisconsin and Minnesota representatives wrote. \u201cSummer months are the best time of the year to spend time outdoors recreating, enjoying time with family, and creating new memories, but this wildfire smoke makes it difficult.\u201d<\/p>\n

The high cost of hosting wildfire evacuees<\/a><\/p>\n

The Congress members declined interview requests from The Globe, and would not answer questions by e-mail or phone related to the letter. <\/p>\n

\u201cOur two nations regularly exchange resources and personnel,\u201d Marie Martin, spokesperson for Natural Resources Canada, said in a statement. \u201cWildfire is a global problem.\u201d<\/p>\n

Several regions in Canada have experienced an early and aggressive start to the wildfire season this year. Both Manitoba and Saskatchewan declared simultaneous provincewide states of emergency, as dozens of large fires also spread in northwestern Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia.<\/p>\n

More than 40,000 people were ordered to evacuate from their communities because of significant wildfires this year. Although the vast majority have now returned home, thousands of people in Canada remain displaced.<\/p>\n

As of late Wednesday, at least 515 wildfires were active across the country, with more than 150 of those deemed out of control. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n

The Saskatchewan, Alberta and Ontario governments declined to comment on the letter.<\/p>\n

In an interview, Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew told The Globe that the Congress members are being highly insensitive by trivializing serious issues.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve lost two Manitobans this wildfire season, and we got a couple of ambulance-chasing congresspeople trying to virtue signal and get attention with their base over this issue,\u201d he said. \u201cThis is what turns people off politics.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr. Kinew said the Wisconsin and Minnesota representatives\u2019 comments are not helpful during trade negotiations, urging the members to speak directly with the many American firefighters on the front lines of Canada\u2019s wildfire response. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe love our American friends,\u201d he said Wednesday. \u201cBut this is just childish people.\u201d <\/p>\n

Ravi Parmer, B.C.\u2019s Minister of Forests, pointed out that the province also often receives smoke from fires in the U.S. <\/p>\n

\u201cManaging wildfire on both sides of the border is a shared responsibility,\u201d he said in a statement. \u201cWe are proud to send crews to support our neighbours to the south whenever you need help.\u201d<\/p>\n

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Smoke from a wildfire burning in Squamish, B.C., on June 10.The Canadian Press<\/p>\n

Smoke from Canadian wildfires has drifted not only to parts of the U.S., but also as far as Europe. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has issued air-quality warnings for several areas, such as Minnesota, New York and Florida, while Europe\u2019s Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service noted that the smoke has travelled east to reach Greece.<\/p>\n

In a seasonal outlook last month, researchers from Environment and Climate Change Canada said dryness, little precipitation and warmer-than-normal temperatures are expected to ripen conditions for more wildfires later this summer.<\/p>\n

The scientists, joining officials from Health Canada, warned about fire seasons becoming longer, as they now start earlier and end later than previous years.<\/p>\n

Robert Gray, a B.C.-based ecologist who has spent more than 40 years managing wildland fires in the U.S., Canada and other jurisdictions, said it was notable that Congress members did not acknowledge the effects of climate change in their letter.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re definitely right about some of their complaints. The disparity between Canada and the U.S.\u2019s response to wildfires is very real,\u201d he said in an interview Wednesday, adding that American officials are more premeditated with their planning.<\/p>\n

For example, Mr. Gray explained, Canada does not nearly adhere to as many prescribed burns as the U.S. does. The practice, often called cultural or traditional burning by Indigenous communities, involves controlled fires to clear out low-lying branches and dead shrubs, preventing fuel for wildfires.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut not mentioning climate change and going out of their way to talk about arson fits in well with the Congress members\u2019 politics,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: Smoke billows from a small wildfire burning in a neighbourhood near the Kelowna…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":53038,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[2148,2138,671,104,2132,692,2147,2131,2143,2144,2140,2133,2130,79,407,746,2142,2137,2159,2134,2135,454,2139,1165,728,2149,108,2154,2155,2157,2152,2156,2150,2153,2136,85,2146,80,2145,2151,159,1458,158,1164,2141,67,132,68,1154,107,2158],"class_list":{"0":"post-53037","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-environment","8":"tag-alberta","9":"tag-arts-news","10":"tag-bc","11":"tag-breaking-news","12":"tag-breaking-news-video","13":"tag-british-columbia","14":"tag-canada","15":"tag-canada-news","16":"tag-canada-sports","17":"tag-canada-sports-news","18":"tag-canada-trafficcanada-weather","19":"tag-canadian-breaking-news","20":"tag-canadian-news","21":"tag-economy","22":"tag-education","23":"tag-environment","24":"tag-federal-government","25":"tag-foreign-news","26":"tag-globe-and-mail","27":"tag-globe-and-mail-breaking-news","28":"tag-globe-and-mail-canada-news","29":"tag-government","30":"tag-life-news","31":"tag-lifestyle","32":"tag-local-news","33":"tag-manitoba","34":"tag-national-news","35":"tag-new-brunswick","36":"tag-newfoundland-and-labrador","37":"tag-northwest-territories","38":"tag-nova-scotia","39":"tag-nunavut","40":"tag-ontario","41":"tag-pei","42":"tag-photos","43":"tag-political-news","44":"tag-political-opinion","45":"tag-politics","46":"tag-politics-news","47":"tag-quebec","48":"tag-science","49":"tag-sports-news","50":"tag-technology","51":"tag-travel","52":"tag-trudeau","53":"tag-united-states","54":"tag-unitedstates","55":"tag-us","56":"tag-us-news","57":"tag-world-news","58":"tag-yukon"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53037","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=53037"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53037\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/53038"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53037"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=53037"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=53037"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}