Ottawa, ON — Dane Lloyd, Conservative Shadow Minister for Emergency Preparedness, released the following statement on the Liberal Government’s failure to provide promised assistance for wildfires:

“In the midst of Canada’s worst wildfire season on record, Justin Trudeau continues to divide Canadians to distract them from his broken promises. In 2021, Justin Trudeau committed $500 million over five years to help the provinces fight wildfires. Justin Trudeau also promised to train 1,000 new firefighters by the summer of 2022. It is a year past due and this program is still in development and for 2022, the Liberals barely committed one sixth of the annual funding needed to keep pace with their promise.

“Canada’s firefighter shortage has been strained by fatigue during this challenging fire season and international crews will be leaving for home as their contracts expire. The Trudeau government’s failure to train firefighters is unacceptable, and poses a danger to Canadians and their property.

“Instead of working to ensure these resources are delivered where they are needed on the ground, the Liberals are more interested in playing politics with emergencies and blaming Canadians who oppose their ineffective tax increases for fires. This nasty rhetoric is wrong, and Canadians expect better.

“Canada needs to have access to the services and personnel needed to fight fires across the country. Common Sense Conservatives called on the Liberal government to extend international firefighting contracts however that fell on deaf ears. While fire seasons continue to worsen across Canada, it is time for the Liberal government to get to work to meet its commitments to keep Canadians safe.”