AS NEW WILDFIRES FORCE EVACUATIONS, SASK. PARTY CONTINUES TO SUPPRESS REVIEW OF LAST YEAR’S DISASTER

Lack Of Accountability, Consultation Leaves Many To Fear The Worst As Temperatures, Winds High Across The North
SASKATOON – In the wake of the fast-moving Lobstick fire threatening communities and forcing evacuations over the weekend, Carla Beck’s team is continuing to call out Scott Moe for hiding the results of a watered-down review into last year’s unprecedented disaster.

Tuesday will mark one year since Denare Beach burned to the ground. Homes and cabins were also lost in East Trout Lake and Sucker River — thousands were forced from their homes and dealt with chaos for weeks due to a unclear procedures, a lack of communication and a lack of financial support.

Still, despite all of that, Scott Moe and the Sask. Party rejected constant calls from Beck’s team and wildfire victims for a public inquiry. Instead, they launched a government-controlled review conducted by MNP. The report stemming from that review was supposed to be released in February. On Monday, it still hadn’t seen the light of day.

“This is a government that ducks accountability and ignores the very people that elected it at every turn,” Beck said. “We’re into an entire new year of wildfires and we haven’t even learned from last year’s massive mistakes on so many fronts.

“We know so many people in the North who were never consulted during the Sask. Party’s review and they’re not being listened to again this year as temperatures soar and the winds pick up. It’s going to be a long and stressful summer as they wonder if the same mistakes will be made again this year.”

Residents south of Shellbrook were forced out of their homes Friday as the Lobstick fire roared; however, officials reported that rains over the weekend helped slow the fire’s growth.

In the Fall Sitting, Beck’s team introduced Bill 609 — the Saskatchewan Wildfire Strategy Act, which aimed to mandate a formal, comprehensive wildfire management strategy, requiring ongoing consultations with Indigenous communities and clear public reporting. The bill was stalled repeatedly by Moe and the Sask. Party.

“These guys claim to know best on fighting wildfires when the evidence from last year suggests anything but,” said Hugh Gordon, Associate Shadow Community Safety Minister. “We’re hearing early reports of chaos again with evacuations and of resources not being properly dispersed to combat fires that have broken out in several locations — and, still, the Sask. Party can’t be bothered to consult those impacted by last year’s disaster, that’s just plain wrong.”

Over the weekend, Northern Affairs Shadow Minister Jordan McPhail toured Wadin Bay alongside Community Safety Minister Michael Weger.

“The Minister saw firsthand that communities like Wadin Bay have firsthand knowledge and expertise on how to fight these fires and protect their communities — why would his government not want them directly involved in building a wildfire strategy for our province?” McPhail said.

“We know there are people in these communities that have been fighting fires for generations and their voices deserve to be heard — we will all be safer if they are.”

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