'Narrow-minded': Experts knock Republicans' criticisms of Canada over wildfires

CBC

2 days ago

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Republican lawmakers in Michigan are blaming the Canadian government for the state's poor air quality, claiming that authorities north of the border have failed to control the wildfires pouring smoke into skies across the continent.
"Instead of enjoying family vacations at Michigan's beautiful lakes and campgrounds, for the third summer in a row, Michiganders are forced to breathe hazardous air as a result of Canada's failure to prevent and control wildfires," the seven members of Congress said in a joint statement Wednesday.
"This recurring crisis is putting public health at risk," the U.S. House members said. "We are calling on the Canadian government to take immediate and decisive action to contain these fires and prevent future wildfires."
But environmental experts say the criticism of Canada leaves out any mention of the key driver behind the surge in wildfires in recent years: climate change.
"That is literally the 10,000-pound elephant in the room," said Jed Kaplan, a University of Calgary professor who specializes in climate change, wildfires, and air quality.
The lawmakers' statement is the latest in a series of condemnations from Republicans in northern states targeting top Canadian officials over the Prairie wildfire smoke, which has billowed across the border and prompted air quality warnings in both countries.
Detroit, Mich., was among the most polluted cities in the world earlier this week, according to a ranking by Swiss company IQAir – as was Toronto.
"Canada's laissez-faire approach to public health, security, and environmental responsibility is unraveling decades of goodwill and cross-border cooperation," Rep. John James (R-Mich.) wrote in a letter to Prime Minister Mark Carney last week.
"It is unacceptable for American firefighting teams to be deployed to combat fires driven by Canadian mismanagement while our own citizens choke on toxic smoke," said James.
In a statement Thursday, the federal government pointed out that Canadian communities "are currently facing devastating wildfire conditions" — and that people have died this year.
"Canada is grateful for the assistance the U.S. has offered this year," Natural Resources Canada said. "Similarly, in January 2025, Canadian fire agencies deployed over 60 personnel, in addition to several aircraft resources to support battling wildfires in Los Angeles."
The Republicans' scoldings of Canada come as the Trump administration slashes environmental regulations, cuts funding and staff at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and rolls back climate initiatives.
It's "very ironic" that the same Republicans penning messages to Canada about air quality are those who support the administration's efforts, says Jeffrey Brook, an air quality and environmental health expert at the University of Toronto.
"On top of that, it is sort of really narrow-minded to be not thinking about how climate change and other environmental regulations are being weakened, and those are the very things that we need to try to avoid this becoming even more common and even worse in the future," he said.
Both Brook and Kaplan say the planet's rising temperatures have made winters shorter and summers hotter and longer, helping to turn Canada's vast northern forests into timberboxes at times.
"Wildfire is a global problem, directly attributed to the impacts of climate change including prolonged drought," Natural Resources Canada said in its statement.
"This is why the Government of Canada, during its G7 Presidency this year, led the development of the Kananaskis Wildfire Charter – the first leader-level wildfire initiative aimed at preventing, responding to, and recovering from, wildland fire."
GOP lawmakers 'literally missing the forest for the trees'
James, in his letter to Carney, claimed that Canada has failed to act on the "clear causes of these wildfires — arson and antiquated forest management practices."
But GOP lawmakers like James are "literally missing the forest for the trees," Kaplan says.
"I guess that most of those Michigan lawmakers have not spent much time in Canada's north, and don't really have an appreciation for the size and the scale of the landscape," said Kaplan, the Canada Research Chair in global system modeling.
He said many U.S. wildfires — such as those in Los Angeles — happen relatively close to airports, infrastructure, and resources.
But Canada's northern boreal forests, where most of the wildfires are currently raging, are incredibly remote and "absolutely enormous," Kaplan said.
"It's simply not logistically possible to control or put out wildfires in the landscape of that scale."
Brook pointed out that Canada's boreal forest stretches across hundreds of millions of hectares.
"It's impossible to be up there trying to preemptively prevent fires from happening," he said. "And when we put them out, we know we need to prioritize fires that are putting people at risk or property at risk."
Is Canada doing enough?
Brook said he's happy elected officials south of the border are raising the alarm about air quality.
"They're certainly justified to be concerned about the health of their constituents and wanting to do something about it," he said. "But it's not really reflecting what's happening in Canada and the great efforts that are being made in Canada" to help save people and places.
"All Canadian wildland fire agencies are fully engaged, including volunteers who continue to tirelessly work to protect lives and property," Natural Resources Canada said. "The Canadian Armed Forces are also supporting in fire suppression efforts."
The federal department also warned that "[elevated] levels of wildland fire activity are likely for the next two months in western and central Canada, due to ongoing drought and forecasted warmer than normal temperatures."
Kaplan said that in southern areas of Canada that are closer to populated areas, there is more that could be done, such as regular low-intensity prescribed burns.
"There are several activities currently ongoing where especially First Nations are stepping up in southern British Columbia, for example, to bring good fire back onto the landscape," he said. "That helps clear out underbrush, that helps reduce the amount of wildfire fuels that are on the landscape."
"Those kind of good fires can really help us avoid some of these catastrophic, intense wildfires that we have in the summer," he added.
As for the rest of the country's immense forests, "perhaps it's time for the Canadian government to invite the Michigan lawmakers on a little tour of Canada's north," Kaplan said.
"See how they feel after flying for six or seven or eight hours in a little propeller plane over vast areas of boreal forest. And then they might finally start to understand the scale of the problem."