NEAR-DECADE OF SASK. PARTY FAILURES LEFT PUBLIC SAFETY AGENCY ILL-PREPARED FOR LAST YEAR’S WILDFIRE CRISIS

Scott Moe, Tim McLeod Dodge Accountability Yet Again

SASKATOON – A near-decade of failure to prepare by Scott Moe, his ministers and the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency were exposed during last year’s wildfire crisis, says a scathing report that Carla Beck’s team continues to analyze.

The report, written by MNP, also shows the SPSA leadership went to great lengths to coverup its failures.

“I can’t help but wonder how many homes could have been saved, how many families in the North wouldn’t have had their lives turned upside down had Scott Moe and Tim McLeod been doing their jobs,” said Hugh Gordon, Associate Community Safety Shadow Minister.

“We know full well there are incredible and hardworking people at the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency that are there because they want to help — the failures here lie with management, the Minister who somehow continues to skate around accountability and Premier Scott Moe himself.

“This is clearly a Sask. Party government that, after 20 years, doesn’t believe its accountable to the very people that elected it — if they ever did.”

Last year’s fires saw all of East Trout Lake and two-thirds of Denare Beach burned to the ground. Homes were also damaged in Sucker River and Hall Lake. The MNP report paints a picture of a leadership team that was either too incompetent to see the warning signs or negligent in their duties to prepare accordingly. Here are some of the egregious findings:

Page 29 – The SPSA is still running on models from 2018 (the year after the SPSA merger). Employees say they don’t align with good, current fire science. It is false to say they did the best they could; they did not study and incorporate best practices.
Page 35 - The agencies that were amalgamated into the SPSA in 2017 had better cooperation before then. Now, they don’t communicate and don’t offer aid to other branches.
Pages 37-38 - The Spring Risk Outlook indicated it would be a bad season, yet pre-season planning was sloppy and ill documented.
Page 40 - Tabletop exercises should be run at least annually, and more frequently in high-risk jurisdictions or if new issues/personnel come up. SPSA leadership tried to claim they’d done some, but couldn’t provide any documentation at all, and staff said they hadn’t. This indicates leadership tried to cover up their own inaction by lying to/misleading the MNP auditors.

“A failure to do their jobs and a coverup,” Gordon said. “This what the Sask. Party is good at, covering its tracks and making it look like they’re leading the province when they’re doing anything but.”

Carla Beck's team is demanding three immediate actions:

Immediate passage at the first opportunity of The Wildfire Strategy Act introduced by Athabasca MLA Leroy Laliberte so that people of the North have a voice in wildfire management.
The Minister responsible for the devastation, Tim McLeod, be fired from Cabinet.
Scott Moe head to East Trout Lake and Denare Beach himself and make a formal apology to the people in those communities for the inaction of his incompetent government.

“Someone could have been killed during this mess,” Gordon said. “The bottom line is this — Carla Beck’s team won’t let up. We will keep demanding accountability for this disaster and a plan to ensure something like this never happens again. It’s time for change.”

-30-

Latest posts

CARLA BECK DEMANDS ACCOUNTABILITY AS REPORT MAKES IT CLEAR PRINCE ALBERT WAS LEFT TO FEND FOR ITSELF DURING WILDFIRE CRISIS

Scott Moe Refusing Calls To Fire Minister, Reform Public Safety Agency

PRINCE ALBERT – Carla Beck is directly calling out Scott Moe for failing to be accountable for the disastrous response by his government to last year’s wildfire crisis in the North, which left communities taking in evacuees, like Prince Albert, without any supports.

AUDITOR TELLS SCOTT MOE TO STOP DUCKING ACCOUNTABILITY ON SASKATCHEWAN’S BELOVED CROWNS

Continued Secrecy Spanning More Than Four Years Comes As Scott Moe Tried To Hide $26-Billion Coal Catastrophe
REGINA – Saskatchewan's Provincial Auditor has again urged Scott Moe and Jeremy Harrison to allow the Legislative Assembly to “demonstrate appropriate scrutiny and hold agencies accountable,” when it comes to the province’s Crown corporations.

CARLA BECK’S TEAM JOINS CHILDCARE PROVIDERS FOR EMERGENCY MEETING AS HARMFUL SASK. PARTY CHANGES LOOM

Scott Moe Ignores Widespread Concerns From Providers, Families, Communities
SASKATOON — Carla Beck’s team will join childcare providers in Saskatoon this evening as they gather for an emergency meeting to sound the alarm about the negative impact of the Sask. Party’s childcare funding changes, set to take effect July 1.

SINCE SCOTT MOE BECAME PREMIER, EMS CALLS FOR DRUG OVERDOSES HAVE RISEN NEARLY 800 PER CENT

Carla Beck’s Team Stands With Firefighters In Calling For Emergency Supports
SASKATOON – Shocking new federal data backs up widespread claims from emergency responders on the frontlines of Saskatchewan’s drug crisis that they are being overrun.

NDP Caucus Office