Wildfire funding in Sask. budget disappointing, says northern emergency co-ordinator
CBC
This year's provincial budget is "essentially" the status quo for wildfire preparation and response, the finance minister says.
That is upsetting to residents in the north who are still recovering from last year's devastating fires.
"I want to hope that they would have had more resources, more money put into having more equipment, paying more fire suppression crews," said Candyce Paul, emergency management co-ordinator for English River First Nation, in an interview after the release of the budget on Wednesday.
Members of the communities she oversees were evacuated last summer as fires raged through the province's north, and she hoped the budget would include money for things such as mitigation plans, more helicopters, larger fire crews and better planning.
Finance Minister Jim Reiter said in his budget address that last year's wildfire season was "unprecedented," and he's hoping that doesn't happen again. The budget for the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency is increasing by $20 million to $140 million.
"It's essentially a bit of a status quo with an increase. There's another new plane coming online, water bomber coming online, so there's an increase in that regard," Reiter told reporters on Wednesday.
"But hopefully, we don't have the kind of year we had last year."
Jordan McPhail, the NDP Opposition critic for northern affairs, said that's not a strategy.
"It shouldn't be government policy that you just cross your fingers and hope that it rains, when you do emergency management," he said.
McPhail said mayors, chiefs and councils in the north feel the government has not been listening to them or learning any lessons from last year.
One item in the budget the NDP welcomed, however, was the doubling of the volunteer first responders' tax credit to $6,000 from $3,000.
Wildfire response contributed to a big hit to last year's budget, which initially projected a $12-million surplus.
As of Wednesday's third-quarter update, a $1.2-billion deficit is projected for 2025-26, due largely to a projected $970-million increase in total expenses, "reflecting significant wildfire response activities and increased human services demands."
The 2026-27 budget is projecting a total deficit of $819 million, with revenues forecast to be $21.4 billion and expenses at $22.2 billion.
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