Moe apologizes for not sooner visiting Saskatchewan community devastated by wildfire

REGINA – Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe apologized in the legislature Monday for not visiting sooner a northern village ravaged by wildfire earlier this summer.

“There’s a period of time when there should have been a leader of this province in the community of Denare Beach to provide the personal support for those families, and I wasn’t there,” he told the legislative assembly.

“I apologize to the (Denare Beach residents) that are here today (and) through them the other community members.”

Moe made a visit to Denare Beach in September in a move that surprised local officials who said they wished he had come sooner.

The premier said he was busy earlier this summer but committed the province to working with the community to rebuild. 

“Often in this business, we get busy putting up guards to protect whatever it is: our family, ourselves. And I certainly have been competent as shown this past summer in doing just that,” he told the assembly. 

The apology came after the Opposition NDP asked Moe to respond to residents’ concerns about the province being ill-prepared to fight the fire. 

Moe’s government has been criticized for a lack of firefighting equipment while nearly half of the water bomber fleet was grounded during the worst of a wildfire season that, at its peak, saw 10,000 people out of their homes. 

NDP northern affairs critic Jordan McPhail later told reporters it took Moe 116 days to find his feet after Denare Beach burned. 

“We’ve seen the apology, and I appreciate that,” he said. “The next step is restoring trust to the people of the North, and that’s by funding, resourcing and planning with local municipalities and local fire departments.”

Some Denare Beach residents were at the legislature Monday and met with the premier earlier in the day. 

Rhonda Werbicki, who has lived in the community for 26 years, told reporters the apology was welcome.

“Those are words, and so I’d like to see some action behind it,” she said.

Dustin Trumbley said he recalled telling Moe the premier is supposed to serve and protect the people. 

“We encouraged him to come to Denare Beach and tell everybody that (apology). They all deserve to hear it,” Trumbley told reporters. “The (Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency) has let us down, and it is going to take years to restore faith in what was such a devastating year.”

Moe did not speak with reporters after his apology.

The province announced Monday it has hired a third party to carry out a review into how the agency responded to the wildfires. 

Agency head Marlo Pritchard said the review will be made public once complete early next year.

“I was in a number of communities that were devastatingly impacted, but I do also know that our staff put it all on the line,” he said. “I’ve been in emergency management most of my adult life. There will always be opportunities that we lost and opportunities for improvement.”

Pritchard said the goal is to have all of the province’s water bombers operational by next year’s wildfire season.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 27, 2025.