Canadian premier accuses US lawmakers of 'trying to trivialise' wildfires

A Canadian premier has accused a group of US lawmakers who demanded the country do more to tackle its wildfires of "trying to trivialise" a deadly situation.

Smoke from the fires is making it difficult for Americans to enjoy summer, six members of Congress said in a letter to Canada's embassy this week.

The premier of Manitoba, which has just declared a state of emergency for a second time this summer due to active blazes, praised US firefighters who are assisting the province.

"I would challenge these ambulance chasers in the US Congress to go and do the same, and to hear how much the American firefighting heroes who are here love our province," Wab Kinew said on Thursday.

He added: "This is what turns people off politics. When you've got a group of congresspeople trying to trivialise and make hay out of a wildfire season where we've lost lives in our province."

There are 104 wildfires burning across Manitoba as of Thursday, according to data by the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre (CIFFC), several of which are classified as out of control.

Garden Hill Anisininew Nation, home to around 4,000 people, was put under a mandatory evacuation order on Thursday after a fire approached the community.

Snow Lake, another town located 590 km (366 miles) northwest of Winnipeg, was also evacuated. It has a population of 1,000 people.

Both communities under mandatory evacuation orders are remote, and members of the Canadian Armed Forces have been called in to help residents leave, officials said.

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Garden Hill Anisininew Nation Chief Dino Flett called it an "unprecedented and devastating time" for his community.

Kinew said the emergency declaration will help the province access more shelter space for evacuees.

Wildfires are not uncommon during the summer months in Canada, but have intensified in recent years.

More than four million hectares of land have burned across the country so far. It is the highest year-to-date figure since 2023, when Canada saw its worst wildfire season in history.

The hardest hit provinces this year are Manitoba and Saskatchewan, with both declaring states of emergency earlier in the season.

A large blaze killed two people in Lac Du Bonnet in Manitoba's cottage country in mid-May. Dozens of properties in the area were also destroyed.

The impact of the wildfires has also been felt beyond Canada's borders and into the US, where smoke travelling south has prompted air quality advisories.

In their letter to the Canadian ambassador, the US lawmakers said: "Our constituents have been limited in their ability to go outside and safely breathe due to the dangerous air quality the wildfire smoke has created."

They urged Canadian officials to do more to prevent the blazes, including through improved forest management.

The Canadian embassy has told the BBC that Canada takes wildfire prevention "very seriously".

Wildfires are part of the natural cycle, and play an essential role in the regeneration of Canada's boreal forests, according to Canada's natural resources ministry.

Many are caused by lightning strikes. In 2023, 93% of the fires in Canada were caused by lightning, according to the Canadian Climate Institute.

Scientists have linked worsening wildfire seasons to warmer and drier weather caused by climate change, an issue that affects Canada significantly.

The country is warming at a rate twice that of the global average due to its large land mass, and its Arctic region is warming three times as fast, according to scientists.