Prime Minister Justin Trudeau visited West 琉璃神社 last Friday (Aug. 25) to meet with local firefighters, city officials, and the media to discuss the Grouse Complex wildfires that have affected three Central Okanagan communities.

鈥淭his has been an extraordinarily difficult summer for so many Canadians from coast to coast to coast as communities have been hit with wildfires, extreme weather events on top of all the other economic events people are facing,鈥� Trudeau said during a news conference at Fire Hall 33.

鈥淭he one thing we鈥檝e been able to see everywhere across the country is communities stepping up to be there for each other.鈥�

The prime minister took a question from an individual who had been evacuated about where the money would come from so that people and communities could rebuild.

鈥淲e鈥檙e seeing more and more intense weather events, insurance is going to get more difficult for people to obtain, even for those who can obtain it and we know that falls on all of us to be there to help communities and individuals who鈥檝e lost everything, having to rebuild,鈥� he said.

鈥淎ll orders of government will be there to work together to make sure Canadians are getting through this that鈥檚 what our job is.鈥�

Trudeau did not announce any funding or programs to help those affected by the wildfires.

He was also asked if the federal government would consider stable funding to municipalities for infrastructure, including wildfire interface programs, instead of communities having to rely on winning grants.

鈥淲hen we got elected in 2015 we made a commitment to invest in infrastructure that previous federal governments simply had not,鈥� Trudeau said.

He referred to his government鈥檚 recent $3 billion in permanent, yearly transit funding. 鈥淚 think we need to start looking at that around emergencies, we certainly need to start looking at that around infrastructure investments so that cities can make plans to continue to grow.鈥�

A news release from the federal Conservative Party, sent out at the same time the prime minister was speaking, claimed that during the 2021 election, Trudeau promised to train and equip 1,000 woodland firefighters and provide an additional $500 million to the provinces and territories to buy essential equipment to increase their ability to fight fires before the 2022 fire season.

鈥淥f the $500 million he promised to the provinces 鈥� $177 million was cut and diverted to a new satellite that won鈥檛 launch till 2029,鈥� said the Conservative Party statement.

鈥淏udget 2022 then spread the remaining funding over five years, with only $15.6 million earmarked for 2022 鈥� just 3% of what Trudeau promised.

鈥淎s of December 1, 2022 not a single firefighter had even begun to be trained.鈥�

West 琉璃神社 Mayor Gord Milsom, whose community has been hard hit by the McDougall Creek wildfire, said he is hoping to see greater investment from the federal government.

鈥淚n wildfire mitigation and planning. I believe we could use more support in emergency management programs, particularly emergency support services,鈥� Milsom said. 鈥淢ore sustainable, ongoing funding would be very much appreciated, that was my ask.鈥�

Regional District Central Okanagan board chair Loyal Wooldridge pointed out that Electora Area West was devastated by the McDougall Creek wildfire.

鈥淲e鈥檙e calling on the federal government, the provincial government, to look at our emergency operations centre as a year-round model,鈥� Wooldridge said.

鈥淩ight now we鈥檙e pulling from municipalities working off the side of their desk.鈥�

He would also like to see the federal government provide sustainable infrastructure dollars to invest in things such as fire halls and Westside Road 鈥渨hich is very important to service rural and remote communities.鈥�

Asked about support for year-round emergency services, Trudeau said the focus right now is getting through the wildfire crisis in the Central Okanagan.

鈥淲e know, unfortunately, extreme weather events are going to get more frequent, more extreme in the years to come,鈥� the prime minister said.

鈥淲e have to learn from what鈥檚 worked and what hasn鈥檛 worked as well as it could have and put that in place.鈥�

READ MORE: 130-hectare planned aerial ignition to take place at McDougall Creek wildfire in West 琉璃神社

READ MORE: More than 4,000 properties remain on evacuation order across Central Okanagan

gary.barnes@kelownacapnews.com
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