Manitoba premier shoots back at U.S. lawmakers over smoke complaint

Manitoba's premier shot back on Thursday at six U.S. lawmakers who recently complained about Canadian wildfire smoke travelling south, which they said was making it difficult for some Americans to enjoy their summer.

"I've shaken the hands of American firefighters in northern Manitoba who are helping us out," said Premier Wab Kinew, whose province has endured a deadly and devastating wildfire season in which thousands of people have been forced to evacuate from their homes.

"I would challenge these ambulance chasers in the U.S. Congress to go and do the same, and to hear how much the American firefighting heroes who are here — how much they love our province."

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

A letter signed by Republican House representatives Tom Tiffany and Glenn Grothman of Wisconsin; and Brad Finstad, Michelle Fischbach, Pete Stauber and Tom Emmer of Minnesota, was published Monday and addressed to Canada's ambassador in Washington.

"We write to you today on behalf of our constituents who have had to deal with suffocating Canadian wildfire smoke filling the air to begin the summer," it reads.

"In our neck of the woods, summer months are the best time of the year to spend time outdoors recreating, enjoying time with family, and creating new memories, but this wildfire smoke makes it difficult to do all those things," says the complaint, which can be read in full here.

The representatives ask how the federal government plans to mitigate the wildfire smoke, attributing "a lack of active forest management" as a major driver of Canadian wildfires, and suggesting that some of the fires began with arson.

"With all the technology that we have at our disposal, both in preventing and fighting wildfires, this worrisome trend can be reversed if proper action is taken."

Research shows that climate change, largely driven by fossil fuel use, is exacerbating wildfires in both Canada and the United States.

While a proportion of wildfires is caused by human activity — like unattended campfires — and a Quebec man pleaded guilty to arson last year after he was arrested for igniting 14 fires, there is no indication that widespread arson is behind the wildfires.

Lightning causes about half of them and burns the most area, per the Canadian National Fire Database. There are currently 526 active wildfires in Canada, according to the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre.

"Canada takes the prevention, response and mitigation of wildfires very seriously," the Canadian Embassy said in a statement responding to the letter. "[The letter] has been shared with the relevant Canadian agencies. We will respond in due course."

Foreign Minister Anita Anand also addressed the letter, in response to a CBC reporter's question on Thursday.