In a letter addressed to the provincial, territorial and federal premiers and the leaders of the opposition parties, a group of 80 organizations representing the “environmental community of Canada” calls for “decisive”, urgent and significant measures to fight climate change and its devastating effects.
In doing so, they are demanding that federal, provincial and territorial governments more strictly regulate the activities of oil and gas companies, as well as the financial institutions that finance them.
“How many more of our communities will have to endure wildfires before our leaders act with the utmost speed?” the group asks, citing the case of Jasper, Alberta, a mountain town popular with tourists that was ravaged by major wildfires.
“As we write these lines, more than 750 forest fires are underway in Canada, most of which are out of control,” the organizations say.
The collective, which includes Équiterre, Greenpeace Canada, EcoJustice and the David Suzuki Foundation, points out that “climate change, fueled by the use of fossil fuels, is contributing to an increase in the size, temperature and frequency of forest fires.”
Between 1986 and 2021, “37% of forest areas burned in western Canada and the United States can be attributed to emissions from 88 major fossil fuel producers and cement manufacturers,” the signatories of the letter also argue.
Unfortunately, the signatories note, fossil fuel operators “have rejected any effort to regulate the oil and gas industry.”
“Canadians deserve better than continued delays in capping emissions and a climate policy weakened by ongoing lobbying by the fossil fuel industry,” the authors of the letter insist, calling on elected officials to “stop playing political games at the expense of our health and safety.”
Vulnerable indigenous populations
The signatories of the letter noted that First Nations people are among those most affected by the wildfires.
In 2023, a record year for wildfires, more than 10% of evacuees were Indigenous. In fact, “more than 42% of evacuations due to wildfires” involved Indigenous populations between 1980 and 2021.