Poilievre slams Trudeau over Jasper wildfire preparedness
'He pretends you can put out forest fires with taxes. Clearly that has not worked,' said the Conservative leader.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre took aim at Justin Trudeau during question period on Wednesday over the Liberals' failure to properly protect Jasper from a devastating wildfire.
Speaking in the House of Commons, Poilievre slammed Trudeau for not taking the advice of his officials and addressing the massive amount of dead trees accumulated in the Jasper area.
"He should have listened to his own officials who said that the mass buildup of fuel in the Jasper valley as a result of dead trees needed to be addressed through controlled burns and other clearing methods," said the Conservative leader.
"Instead of taxing Canadians into poverty, why didn't he fight forest fires?" asked Poilievre.
'It was a matter of time': Jasper-area locals react to federal mismanagement of wildfire
— Rebel News (@RebelNewsOnline) August 1, 2024
A devastating wildfire swept through Jasper National Park and into the historic Jasper townsite July 24, claiming 30% of the town's structures.
Although Minister of Environment and Climate… pic.twitter.com/s0pkDdLfKb
Trudeau responded forcefully by blaming the wildfire on 'climate change,' something the prime minister says Poilievre doesn't want to fight.
"This fire, Mr. Speaker, was a treetop fire. It jumped from treetop to treetop and threw flaming pinecones kilometres ahead of it which is what set this burn. This is a result of climate change," he said.
The Jasper wildfire destroyed approximately one-third of the buildings in the townsite, devastating local residents and forcing thousands to evacuate.
The damage has sparked a wave of criticism, with a significant portion of the blame being directed at the federal government. Many argue that this disaster could have been mitigated or even prevented altogether if proper measures had been taken.
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