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Global News
4 days ago
- Climate
- Global News
Military evacuates hundreds as wildfires rip through northern Ontario
More than 900 people have been evacuated from a remote community in northern Ontario using massive military transport planes as out-of-control wildfires spread across the province. On Sunday, Ontario asked the federal government to dispatch military personnel to help evacuate the community of Sandy Lake after a nearby fire expanded, doubling in size toward the edge of town in a few hours. Defence personnel said they had evacuated more than 900 people by Monday afternoon. The evacuations mark the latest twist in an already busy fire season in the province, one critics argue the Ontario government failed to prepare for. Data from the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre shows that the area of Ontario burned so far this year is already 38 times higher than it was last year. Story continues below advertisement The province has recorded 174 fires to date, compared with 97 last year. The 174 fires so far this year are above the five- and 10-year average for Ontario. For years, advocates, the Ontario Public Service Employees Union and internal documents have all warned Ontario is unprepared for a major fire season. A government task force report in 2016, for example, warned that wildland forest fire rangers were quitting at an alarming rate and were being replaced with a dwindling number of inexperienced recruits. An aging fleet of waterbombers and other firefighting planes has also been hit with problems that saw them grounded for periods last summer. Get daily National news Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day. Sign up for daily National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy Advocates and the union representing front-line firefighters have advocated for better pay to attract more full-time firefighters. They have also pushed to be reclassified as an emergency service to improve cancer coverage and for more year-round career opportunities. As of Monday, Ontario is mounting a full response to six out-of-control fires and another seven under control. The 13 fires total 216,225 hectares in size. With the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre rating the province's current ability to respond as 'poor,' the province has been forced to call in fresh resources. Two CL-415 water bombers were sent to the province Monday, according to the fire centre. Firefighters from other provinces were also shipped in to help, along with a team of five from Wisconsin. Story continues below advertisement Those fighting fire on the front lines have experienced close to three-week work stints without a break and fear burnout. 'Short staffing hasn't meant we have more fire on the landscape than we would have if we were fully staffed, but it means we're already on our second group of imported crews from B.C.,' said Eric Davidson, Ontario Wildfire Association president. Davidson, who has been fighting fire in Ontario for 12 years, spoke to Global News to share his experience, not on behalf of the Ontario government or its firefighting operations. 'It means many crews are already on their second 19-day stretch,' he continued. 'If the summer continues like the spring, it won't take long to burn everyone out. Right now, crews get off a fire and are right back into the top of the alert rotation.' Ontario NDP MPP Sol Mamakwa, whose riding includes the Sandy Lake community being evacuated, said the government had ignored warnings that the fire program was unprepared. 'I think over the last few summers, we've been warning people, letting the government know that we need to be prepared,' he said. 'We need to have the proper resources, proper planes and also planning to do the evacuations.' He suggested that, with better resources, the worst of the current fires 'perhaps could have (been) avoided.' Story continues below advertisement Global News asked the government about short-staffing on crews, but the Ministry of Natural Resources did not address the question. A spokesperson said there were more than 50 helicopters and water bombers involved in the firefighting.
Hamilton Spectator
26-04-2025
- Politics
- Hamilton Spectator
Singh couldn't ‘stomach idea' of a Conservative majority, no regrets on no fall vote
TORONTO - NDP Leader said he has no regrets about not triggering a fall election, because he couldn't 'stomach the idea' of Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre forming a majority government and wanted more time for pharmacare to be entrenched. Polling data last fall suggested the Conservatives could have nearly wiped out the governing Liberals and easily formed a majority government. The NDP were flirting with the Liberals for second place. Now with the Liberals ahead in the polls and his own party at risk of losing official party status, Singh said that he stands by his decision not to bring down the Liberals. 'The first and foremost thing is I wanted people to get the benefit of dental care and pharmacare, those are really important things I fought for,' Singh said in front of a crowd at the Ontario Public Service Employees Union convention in Toronto. 'Secondly, I think what (Pierre) Poilievre and the Conservatives are proposing are incredibly dangerous. He wants to cut and slash the things that people need... and because I couldn't stomach the idea of Poilievre forming majority government, I made that decision.' Singh told the crowd of union members that without more New Democrats in the House of Commons, Canada could be heading toward budget cuts reminiscent of the 1990s era Liberals. The NDP leader laid out a series of priorities he wants to see addressed in the federal budget, once the House of Commons is scheduled to reconvene in about a month. This includes expanding pharmacare to cover essential medications like cancer and heart medicine, national rent control, a price cap on grocery staples and closing loopholes on offshore tax havens among other measures. 'If he wants our support, then let's make it really clear we're not going to let cuts to our health care we want to see it strengthened. We want to see steps making life more affordable for Canadians. We've laid those out, and so we expect those priorities to be met, to have our support,' Singh said. Singh said that the Liberals are looking to cut upwards of $28 billion in operating spending, money the NDP Leader says could come in part from provincial health transfers. Carney previously said he does not plan to cut health care spending, and the Liberal campaign talks about maintaining provincial and personal federal transfers. Singh pointed to a number of interviews Carney's done since becoming Liberal leader where he mentions provincial and personal transfers in his plans to balance the government's operating budget. In the last Parliament, the NDP used its leverage through its agreement to prop up the minority Liberal government to advance legislative priorities like the aforementioned dental care and pharmacare programs, plus anti-scab legislation. Now, polls suggest the possibility of a Liberal majority government which would limit the amount of power opposition party's can wield. Singh has spent the last few weeks overtly campaigning to be the power broker in Parliament once again, and did not mince words on why voters should not look to another party like the Bloc Québécois. 'Sadly, the Bloc is basically a useless party. They had the past three years of a minority government and literally did this much for people, nothing,' Singh said. Singh is keeping up the positive vibes in the final days of the campaign, despite repeated questions and comments about the future of the party and his own leadership. Regardless of the result on Monday, Singh said the NDP always takes a look in the mirror after a campaign. 'A lot of circumstances happen outside of our control. Threats from Donald Trump, attacking our country, attacking our sovereignty, trade war. You know, unpredictable things happen. So we'll look at that and make an assessment,' Singh said. The NDP campaign includes stops in Hamilton and London, Ont. on Friday, as the party looks to maintain and pickup seats in southern Ontario. Singh will head back to British Columbia this weekend to close out the campaign. His own riding is in Burnaby, a suburban city in the metro Vancouver area. This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 25 2025.
