I live in West Kelowna.
And what has been accomplished? Zero to date.
Liberals pledge to support training of 1,000 more personnel to fight wildfires
Mia Rabson
- The Canadian Press Staff -
18 Aug 2021
VANCOUVER -- Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau campaigned in British Columbia Wednesday, hoping promises to train more firefighters and better equip them will overcome pushback in the province over an early election call while wildfires continue to rage.
"I know this has been a really tough time for people across the province," Trudeau said, on a terrace overlooking Vancouver Harbour.
On top of the COVID-19 pandemic, B.C. was hit with record-smashing heat waves earlier this summer, and hundreds of wildfires continue to burn around the province.
"The air has been orange even here in the Lower Mainland," Trudeau said.
Trudeau said a re-elected Liberal government will spend half a billion dollars to train 1,000 new firefighters, and help provinces buy new equipment to battle wildfires, including Canadian-made firefighter aircraft.
He is also promising a new auditing program so homeowners can assess their readiness to withstand extreme weather, and add climate-resilience upgrades to the list of eligible home improvements under existing federal home improvement grant programs.
Environment Minister Jonathan Wilkinson, running for re-election in North Vancouver, was among the local candidates flanking Trudeau during the announcement Wednesday. He said the events of this summer have really pushed the urgency of climate action to the forefront, including Canada's heat waves and fires, and floods which killed nearly 200 people in Germany in July.
The Liberals have taken heat for calling an early election while B.C. is still in a state of emergency because of fires.
Cooler and rainy weather have helped the fire fight in B.C. in recent days, but there are still 36 evacuation orders in effect and 261 active fires including 31 classified as a threat to the public.
Less than 24 hours before Trudeau arrived in Vancouver, the province extended its state of emergency until the end of August.
