Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew has sharply rebuked a group of U.S. Republican lawmakers for criticizing Canada over wildfire smoke drifting into the United States.
Earlier this week, six Republican members of Congress from Wisconsin and Minnesota sent a letter to Canadian Ambassador Kirsten Hillman, demanding answers on what Canada is doing to curb wildfire smoke. They blamed forest mismanagement and arson but made no mention of climate change.
At a news conference Thursday, Kinew fired back, defending Canada’s response and praising American firefighters who’ve traveled north to assist in battling the blazes.
“I’ve shaken the hands of American firefighters in northern Manitoba who are helping us out,” Kinew said. “I would challenge these ambulance chasers in the U.S. Congress to do the same and hear directly from the heroes they’re supposedly representing — they love our province.”
Kinew went on to accuse the lawmakers of politicizing a serious crisis.
“This is what turns people off politics — when a group of Congress people tries to score points off a wildfire season that has cost lives in our province,” he said. “There’s no place for that in politics.”
The exchange underscores the growing international tensions over the cross-border effects of worsening wildfire seasons — and the political divisions over how to address them.
