National firefighting agency worth a look

“American lungs are paying the price for Canadian inaction, year after year. Sovereignty comes with responsibility, and the responsibility to prevent a foreseeable disaster from crossing into another country’s airspace has not been met … We are done accepting apologies in place of action. If Canada will not manage its forests to prevent these fires, the United States will look elsewhere, and act on our own, to protect our people. That means our own agencies exploring direct involvement in cross-border fuel reduction and firefighting capacity.”

— From a letter penned by Republican members of the U.S. House of Representatives to Prime Minister Mark Carney

It’s easy for Canadians to get up on our high horse these days when met with ill-conceived and rather callous complaints from U.S. lawmakers like this one. In fact, the letter reads far more like a threat to our national security and sovereignty than a mere complaint.

And considering the aggressive and threatening rhetoric spewing forth from the 47th president over the course of the last 544 days of his second term — including his threat Friday to increase tariffs on Canada due to smoke from wildfires — we’re far more predisposed to think unkindly of our American neighbours, and to be dismissive of their concerns.

For example, when news of the letter above made it to social media, the authors were pilloried by Canadian commenters who took umbrage with the language and the timing, and the obvious lack of compassion for Canadians and communities that have been affected by wildfire this season.

These and other comments directed at Canada by our American cousins even prompted Ontario Premier Doug Ford to chime in, stating that American politicians should do the right thing and send help instead of “chirping away” about the movement of smoke into the northern United States.

But the reality is, that’s exactly what they have done. CTV reported yesterday that firefighters from the U.S. and France will aid local crews in Quebec with the wildfires in the northwestern part of the province. According to the Quebec forest fire prevention agency, 18 forest firefighters from Maine, Connecticut and New Hampshire arrived on Friday to join visiting crews from New Brunswick, Alberta, B.C. and Prince Edward Island. The 42 firefighters from France will arrive today.

In fact, since 1982, the United States and Canada have had an arrangement in place between the National Interagency Coordination Centre in the U.S. and the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre in Canada to share resources during peak fire activity.

During Canada’s record-breaking fire season in 2023 — noted as the worst in the country’s history — the United States deployed more than 2,700 firefighters and support personnel, along with resources such as water bombers to help reinforce overstretched Canadian lines. And last year, the U.S. sent more than 600 firefighters to support wildfire suppression efforts in Manitoba, Saskatchewan, British Columbia and Alberta.

And likewise, Canada has often sent firefighters down south when the United States is in need. Our country sent 250 firefighters and specialized Incident Command staff, along with heavy equipment to Los Angeles and San Diego in January 2025. In 2020, Canada sent 594 firefighters and staff to large fires in the western states, when more than five million acres burned.

Canadians have also been fighting fires in western U.S. states this month, and there has been a casualty as a result — veteran pilot Nicholas Dale, 56, from Vancouver Island died when the helicopter he was flying crashed on July 12, while battling the Gold Mountain fire in southwestern Colorado.

Contrary to social media commentary from more than a few irate Canadians, Americans in Colorado mourned his death this week, with emergency vehicles forming a mile-long procession to transport Dale’s body, and Colorado Governor Jared Polis ordering state flags to be flown at half-mast.

Even perpetually petulant U.S. ambassador to Canada Pete Hoekstra took the high road this week, commending the “outstanding co-operation between the United States and Canada as we confront these fires together,” he said. “Our two governments are monitoring and sharing information in real time — co-ordination that reflects our partnership at its best.”

This usually abrasive character even managed to sound magnanimous.

It stands to reason that we should be wary of taking the poor manners of a few ignorant loudmouths down south to heart, and be mindful that we all have a stake in working together when it comes to natural disasters.

Of course, so should they. That’s what makes these kinds of comments so galling.

But we should also not lose sight of the fact that once in a while, even the loudmouths may have a point.

Unlike other G7 nations, Canada does not currently have a permanent and dedicated national firefighting agency. Our water bombers are made up of an aging fleet of Canadair models that are costly to maintain and operate.

Thankfully, the Canadian government invested $257.6 million over four years in the 2025 fall budget to Natural Resources Canada to lease new firefighting aircraft to “bolster provincial and territorial aerial firefighting capacity.”

But with 903 active fires burning across Canada right now, compared with 48 large active wildfires in the U.S., the federal government is struggling to meet the need. That has prompted requests for military deployment and international aid, as well as mutual aid from provincial governments.

Thanks to climate change, our country has a wildfire problem that is clearly worsening. As the second-largest country in the world, with a huge landmass and 912 million acres of forest, it’s time we have a dedicated national firefighting force that can not only handle our own fires, but also be of aid to the United States and other countries when the need arises.

In this case, it’s fair criticism from the Americans. Even if we don’t like the tone.