Ontario Premier Doug Ford is sounding the alarm on Canada's wildfire preparedness, calling for the immediate purchase of at least 60 water bombers to establish a unified national firefighting force.
Speaking Monday at the Association of Municipalities of Ontario's annual conference in Ottawa, Ford emphasized the urgency of building a coordinated, cross-country aerial defence against the increasingly devastating wildfires ravaging the nation.
"We need to go out there and buy at least 60 fire bombers because they take a long time to build," Ford told municipal leaders. "But we need to all collaborate, put them right across the country from coast to coast to coast, starting in B.C. and all the way out to the East Coast and everything in between."
The call comes as wildfires continue to wreak havoc across multiple provinces. British Columbia faced a major crisis last week when a fire near Summerland forced 20,000 residents to evacuate, triggering a provincial state of emergency. In July, Northern Ontario blazes sent choking orange smoke across the province and into the United States, forcing multiple First Nations communities to flee.
Alberta and Ontario Already Moving Forward
Several provinces aren't waiting for a national strategy to materialize. Alberta announced plans earlier this year to purchase five water bombers from Calgary-based De Havilland Aircraft of Canada Ltd. for $400 million. Ontario followed suit in July, committing to five new helicopters and six water bombers for $650 million.
De Havilland manufactures the DHC-515, a next-generation water-bombing aircraft built on the legacy of the famous Canadair line. Neil Sweeney, the company's vice-president of corporate affairs, called Ford's announcement "timely," though he noted Monday was the first time he'd heard the 60-bomber figure.
"The sooner that everyone can get moving on new equipment, whether it's ours or others, the sooner we'll have it in time to protect people when there are devastating wildfires," Sweeney said.
A Long-Overdue National Strategy
Canada remains one of just a handful of G7 nations without a dedicated federal emergency management agency and has never developed a comprehensive national wildland firefighting strategy—a gap that has drawn repeated criticism from lawmakers and emergency officials.
The Senate's agriculture and forestry committee weighed in on the crisis in June, releasing a report on Canadian wildfire response that included 15 recommendations. Among them: the federal government should create and fund a national firefighting aircraft fleet.
Ford's proposal now pushes that conversation into the spotlight as Canadians brace for another potentially catastrophic wildfire season.
This article is based on reporting from the Globe and Mail. Read the original story.