Jasper Mayor Richard Ireland has called out the “unhelpful and divisive rhetoric” surrounding the Jasper wildfire.
“From my perspective, the current level of discourse is disrespectful to Canadians generally, but it’s actively harmful to Jasper residents who have already suffered so greatly,” Ireland said at a Thursday (Oct. 10) media event.
While acknowledging the public and residents of Jasper were entitled to the facts regarding the coordinated wildfire response, which included all three levels of government and multiple agency partners, now was not the time for arguing or speculation, Ireland said.
“The present atmosphere of finger-pointing, blaming and both partial and misinformation is, from my perspective, beyond merely an annoying distraction,” he said. “It delays healing. It introduces fresh wounds and fosters division, precisely at a time when we need recovery and unity.”
Since the Jasper wildfire destroyed nearly a third of the townsite last summer, there has been debate has been centred around whether the mountain pine beetle infestation played a significant role in the wildfire spreading so quickly and if Parks Canada had done enough to prevent the fire.
Last week, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre had a debate over Jasper wildfire preparedness.
A private firefighter contractor has also accused Parks Canada of denying it entry into Jasper National Park during the wildfire.
Kris Liivam, president of private wildfire company Arctic Fire Safety Services, told a federal committee his company’s experience was “a shocking example of how mismanaged the Jasper fire was by Parks Canada”.
Liivam told the committee this week that his business had been hired by a private business to assist with firefighting, but faced issues being allowed to enter the national park.
In response, Parks Canada and the Municipality of Jasper released a statement saying the contractor had not made prior arrangements for access to Jasper National Park and were temporarily denied entry before being admitted to the area.
Ireland explained the answers being sought would be best revealed in a more structured environment, which would be provided by an independent after-action review of the fire.
The mayor emphasized that Jasper’s council was committed to working collaboratively with the community, all levels of government and all interested parties to ensure Jasper residents and businesses were able to recover properly.
For now, the community needed to focus on recovery efforts such as debris removal, housing and restarting the economy, he said.
“Now is not the time to be distracted by other issues,” Ireland said. “And as I say, the distraction is more than that. It's actively harmful to our community right now. When the time is right, we will fully engage.”
