Go Ad Free

A Parliamentary committee has voted to investigate Parks Canada managers over their handling of the Jasper fire, and forest management overall. Cabinet initially blamed ‘climate change’ for the disastrous blaze on July 24 that destroyed 358 buildings, a third of the town.

The Commons environment committee will “undertake a study of the factors that led to the recent fires in Jasper National Park” with testimony by Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault. 

“I saw with my own eyes the destruction caused by the forest fire,” Minister Guilbeault told reporters last Wednesday. “Rising average temperatures which create drier conditions and more intense forest fires are one demonstration of the impact of climate change.”

Emergency Preparedness Minister Harjit Sajjan also attributed ‘climate change’ to the destruction of Jasper. “Sadly the community of Jasper was a victim of this,” he said.

Cabinet and Parks Canada to date have refused to detail fire preparedness and forest management practices at Jasper National Park and the surrounding area, reported Blacklock’s Reporter. 

Parks Canada uses wildfire as excuse to conceal records about Jasper fire warnings

Rebel News filed access to information requests with Parks Canada. We wanted to see the warnings the bureaucrats received over the years about the wildfire threat in Jasper. But instead of… pic.twitter.com/pn9Ve3bSy6

— Rebel News (@RebelNewsOnline) August 27, 2024

Parks Canada said September 5 that it would withhold all information of the Jasper blaze until May 2, 2025, including the acreage of dead pine left standing. 

Blacklock’s requested the number of hectares of dead pine left in Jasper National Park from 2020 to 2023, including the amount of clear cutting or controlled burns that took place. Parks Canada granted itself a 240-day delay to respond, citing “emergency response efforts.”

Four years ago, managers warned of “dead trees and the fuel load” at Jasper National Park. 

Conservative MP Dan Mazier on September 10 released Access To Information records showing Parks Canada managers expressed alarm over “public and political perception” of removing dead trees as a fire risk, mere months before the Jasper fire. “Public and political perception may become more important than actual prescription windows,” read a February 21 staff email.

Guilbeault says "years of forest management" paid off in Jasper.

30% of the town burned.

His own ministry's 2022 Jasper Park Mgmt Plan says not enough was done to clear pine beetle fuel load out of the park. Feds were warned in 2017 about potential for a catastrophe… pic.twitter.com/j7IrALmW5d

— Sheila Gunn Reid (@SheilaGunnReid) July 29, 2024

Additional Agency documents found managers were slow to eliminate the risk with tree cutting or controlled burns. The number of controlled fires in national parks fell annually from 28 to 13 from 2015 to 2019. That fell further during the pandemic. 

Parks Canada in a 2021 Briefing Book acknowledged from 2015 it reduced the number of controlled burns that would fuel any wildfire. No reason was given.

“There is still much work to do to mitigate Mountain Pine Beetle related impacts, particularly in the forests surrounding communities within the Rocky Mountain National Parks, e.g. Jasper,” said the Briefing Book.

Minister Guilbeault claimed the damage would have been ‘much worse’ if not for “years of preparation.” The Agency would not detail the precautions it took in Jasper.

Guilbeault also refuted claims that Parks Canada mismanaged fire preparedness. It was “simply not true,” he said.

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: Rebel News reporter Adam Soos speaks with Alberta Premier Danielle Smith (@ABDanielleSmith) about the Jasper wildfire and the government's mitigation efforts.

FULL REPORT by @ATSoos: https://t.co/ORKoXP5O77 pic.twitter.com/J6TojMErVi

— Rebel News (@RebelNewsOnline) August 8, 2024

Additionally, managers warned the Environment Department of the fire risk two years ago, expressing concern that 44% of Jasper’s Whitebark Pine forest was killed by pine beetles. Darlene Upton, vice president of Parks Canada, admitted to the presence of thousands of hectares of dead trees before the infestation.

“Obviously one of the big concerns is the dead trees and the fuel load,” Upton testified at 2020 hearings of the Commons Environment Committee. “We are ramping up our efforts,” she added. 

Parliament in 2021 only budgeted $2.2 million a year to combat beetle infestations blamed for killing pine trees. 

Ron Hallman, CEO of Parks Canada, acknowledged the agency cleared “thousands of hectares” of dead pine deemed a fire risk. He did not specify further.

“Obviously we are all devastated that the fire breached the town despite best efforts,” he said. “The simple fact is sometimes there are no tools or resources capable of overcoming a wildfire.

The investigation will reveal whether or not that is accurate.