Ontario’s Natural Resources Minister says the province will have the resources necessary to fight this year’s forest fires.
The opposition says the province is 50 crews short of what it normally has in place.
Graydon Smith says they will spare no expense to make sure that communities are safe.
“The reality is that forest firefighting in Ontario is a proposition where we spend every dollar that is needed to get the job done,” says Smith.
“Our promise to communities all throughout Ontario is that not only will we have the resources again, in the ground, on the air, wherever it needs to be, but we will spare no expense to make sure that communities stay safe here in Ontario.”
Smith also reiterated efforts to attract more forest firefighters.
He adds the province is budgeting a record amount of money for this year.
“This government has made it a priority to be ready for forest fire season in Ontario. In fact, we raised the budget from a paltry $69 million back in the liberal days to $135 million today to make sure that we are keeping people safe throughout Ontario. That is our mission.”
Actualy spending on forest firefighting efforts in 2023 reached in excess of 235 million.
To date, there have been three small fires in northwestern Ontario this month.
