Canada’s wildfires need ‘multiple options’ for response: Anand
Global News
The defence minister said the military continues to be in "growth mode" due to an ongoing recruitment and retention crisis that has kept its ranks smaller than needed.
Canada’s defence minister says she is working with Emergency Preparedness Minister Bill Blair to ensure “multiple options” are available to assist in the cross-country firefight — not just the Canadian Forces.
That comes as the provinces and territories battle increasingly devastating wildfires with the help of other agencies and outside partners. Those partners include the military, which Anita Anand says is in “growth mode” as it continues to struggle with an ongoing recruitment and retention crisis.
“Of course, I am always concerned about the Canadian Armed Forces and what we need to continue to be robust and to grow,” she told Mercedes Stephenson in an interview that aired Sunday on The West Block.
“I’ve had long conversations with Minister Blair about the need for us to continue to ensure that there are multiple options for assisting in crises such as natural disasters. And he and I are completely on the same page: that we will work with the provinces as necessary, we will source different types of support for the provinces in their time of need, and the Canadian Armed Forces are just one of those many different types of support, such as in the area of firefighting.”
As of Friday, 421 active wildfires were burning in Canada with 217 classified as out of control, according to the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre.
So far this year, 2,410 wildfires have torched 4.5 million hectares of land.
The historic fire season has shone a spotlight on Canada’s shortage of firefighters, many of whom are volunteers, prompting the military to be called into multiple provinces.
Anand said 150 military personnel are on the ground in Alberta and another 450 are in Quebec, with more ready to deploy to Nova Scotia and other provinces as needed.
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