Ontario premier says Trump’s criticism of Canada’s efforts to stop wildfires is ‘absolutely unacceptable’

ONTARIO - Ontario Premier Doug Ford said US criticism of Canadian efforts to stop the “terrible scenario” of spreading forest fires in his province and choking smoke across a broad swathe of the United States was “absolutely unacceptable”.

“We’re trying to get through this,” Ford said on July 18, adding that if the situation were reversed and the US were facing wildfires, “we’re going to be down there to support our neighbours.”

President Donald Trump blamed what he called incompetent Canadian forest management for the smoke and said on July 17 he would add the “incalculable cost” of dealing with the pollution to existing tariffs on Canadian goods.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Ford’s remarks.

Ford said at a press briefing that 655,000 hectares of forest were burning across Ontario, Canada’s most populous province.

“My heart breaks for the people who have lost their homes or their camps and their businesses,” Ford said, adding he has told his ministers there is “no limit” on spending to protect people across the province.

Trump should drop softwood lumber tariffs, Ford says

Ford suggested that if Trump wanted Canada to clear its forests, he should drop US tariffs on softwood lumber. If Canada were able to ship its softwood lumber to the US without tariffs, “that would resolve a lot of the issues we face right now,” Ford said.

Federal Emergencies Minister Eleanor Olszewski said late on July 17 that the Canadian Armed Forces would use aircraft to evacuate residents of Fort Hope in sparsely populated northwestern Ontario, where some of the most intense fires are burning.

The region has few roads and relies heavily on air travel. Thousands of people have already evacuated to cities farther south in Ontario.

Major forest fires have become a regular occurrence in Canada, home to some of the world’s largest forests. Climate experts say rising temperatures have led to drier timber and increased fire risk.

More favourable weather expected

The federal Natural Resources Department said on July 18 that 69 new fires were reported overnight in Canada, raising the total to 955.

The total area burned is around 28,500 sq km - well below the five-year average. But winds have carried the smoke south of the Canada-US border, prompting authorities to issue air quality alerts and health warnings in parts of the United States.

As of 8am ET (8pm in Singapore), the US Environmental Protection Agency’s AirNow site rated the air quality as “unhealthy” in an area including southern Ontario, eastern areas of Ohio and West Virginia, most of Pennsylvania and New Jersey, much of Virginia and all of Maryland, Delaware and Washington, DC.

Parts of western Pennsylvania, including Pittsburgh, were rated “very unhealthy.” AirNow predicted that the air quality in those areas would improve during the day.

Smoke from the Canadian fires will have only a minimal impact on the soccer World Cup final on July 19 at New York New Jersey Stadium, forecaster AccuWeather said on July 17.

Wildfire activity in Ontario has started to slow over the last 24 hours and “much more favourable weather” is expected over the next few days, according to Mike Harris, the Canadian province’s natural resources minister. REUTERS