Saskatchewan NDP calls for public inquiry into government wildfire response
Saskatchewan NDP calls for public inquiry into government wildfire response
The province’s opposition party says it wants a formal inquiry into the provincial government’s wildfire response after blazes ripped through nearly three million hectares of forest and burned hundreds of homes this past summer.
Northern affairs critic and MLA Jordan McPhail says he wants an independent judge to lead the inquiry into the wildfire response, which he is calling a “monumental failure.”
His hopes are that the public inquiry will develop recommendations to possibly avert another crisis at a similar scale in the future.
The NDP plans to demand the inquiry as soon as the next legislative assembly begins next week. They also hope to learn more about why the government refused federal assistance at the peak of the evacuations.
Meanwhile, the provincial government says it is commissioning an after-action review from an independent organization for its public safety agency – announcing today that they are no longer accepting request for bids for the review.
The government says they intend to announce the third party conducting the review soon and that its focus will be on the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency’s (SPSA) response, evacuation and recovery aspects of the wildfire season.
Forest Saskatchewan CEO Carl Neggers says the province should put their focus towards being proactive for the next wildfire season to protect the forestry industry and communities most affected by last summer’s fires.
“We’re going to continue to walk backwards. Future seasons are only going to look harsher and harsher,” he says.
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