(Hammonds Plains) Prime Minister Justin Trudeau traveled around Halifax on Monday to meet with firefighters and other first responders involved in the recent battle against a devastating wildfire. He thanked them for their work in battling the wildfire which broke out on May 28, destroying 150 homes and forcing more than 16,000 people to evacuate the area.
Accompanied by Public Safety Minister Bill Blair, the Prime Minister arrived at a fire station in Hammond Plains, just a few hundred yards from where wildfires burned weeks ago.
A “Nova Scotia Strong” flag flew by the side of the road.
Trudeau met with dozens of volunteer and full-time firefighters, as well as fire department management and union representation, posing for photos.
He then addressed the group, thanking the speakers for their efforts in supporting their community.
“I also thank you for all the things that we don’t know about, the things that you don’t tell your partners or your families about,” added Mr. Trudeau. I know you all find yourself in very frightening situations on a regular basis, and Canadians rely on you deeply for all that you do. »
INGRID BULMER, REUTERS
Trudeau met with dozens of volunteer and full-time firefighters, as well as fire department management and union representation, posing for photos.
During an event recognizing the work of first responders at the St. Margaret’s Centre, Mr. Trudeau again thanked the firefighters, as well as officials from the Halifax Regional Municipality and members of the Department of Natural Resources and Renewable Energy from Nova Scotia.
“Everyone is stepping up, that’s really what we see across the country in times of crisis,” he said. But you all chose careers in which you progressed more significantly. »
“Everyone is stepping up, that’s really what we see across the country in times of crisis,” he said. But you have all chosen careers in which you have been called upon to play a greater role. »
He noted that the past few years had been “difficult”, with more frequent extreme weather events due to climate change, the COVID-19 pandemic and “incidents of violence or casualties”, an apparent reference to the shooting of Mass of 2020 in Nova Scotia.
“You have always been there to intervene in so many different ways, and you do it day in and day out,” he stressed.
This dispatch was produced with the financial assistance of the Meta Exchanges and The Canadian Press for the news.