Ontario Wildfires sparked a political dispute after Ontario Premier Doug Ford rejected US President Donald Trump’s criticism of Canada’s response to the devastating forest fires.
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Ford called the criticism “absolutely unacceptable.” He said Ontario is doing everything possible to control the fires and protect affected communities.
“We’re trying to get through this,” Ford said on Saturday. He added that Canada would support the United States if it faced a similar wildfire emergency.
Meanwhile, Trump blamed what he described as poor Canadian forest management for the smoke drifting into the United States. He also said his administration would add the pollution costs to existing tariffs on Canadian goods.
Ford said 655,000 hectares (1.6 million acres) of forest are burning across Ontario. He expressed sympathy for families and businesses affected by the disaster.
He also pledged unlimited provincial resources to protect residents and support recovery efforts.
In addition, Ford urged Trump to remove US tariffs on Canadian softwood lumber. He argued that higher timber exports would help Canada clear forests more effectively. He said the move could also reduce future wildfire risks.
Federal Emergencies Minister Eleanor Olszewski said the Canadian Armed Forces will use aircraft to evacuate residents from Fort Hope. Wildfires continue to threaten the area.
Thousands of people already evacuated remote communities because those communities rely heavily on air transport and have few roads.
Canada’s Natural Resources Department recorded 69 new wildfires overnight. The total number of active fires has now reached 955 nationwide.
Although the total burned area remains below the five-year average, smoke continues to drift across the Canada-US border. As a result, authorities continue to issue air quality alerts in several American states.
The US Environmental Protection Agency rated the air quality as unhealthy across parts of southern Ontario, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Virginia, Maryland, Delaware and Washington, D.C. The agency also rated parts of western Pennsylvania, including Pittsburgh, as very unhealthy.
However, AccuWeather expects the smoke to have only a limited impact on Sunday’s FIFA World Cup final in the New York-New Jersey area.
Ontario Natural Resources Minister Mike Harris said wildfire activity slowed during the past 24 hours. He added that improving weather conditions should help firefighters contain more blazes over the coming days.
