Commentary
As North America suffers from Canada’s out-of-control forest fires, the Canadian government shuns responsibility. Instead of acknowledging its failure to follow tried-and-true forest-management procedures, the government instead points the finger at climate change.
“We’re seeing more and more of these fires because of climate change,” Prime Minister Trudeau tweeted. “These fires are affecting everyday routines, lives and livelihoods, and our air quality.”
Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault concurred, tweeting: “The ongoing wildfires remind us that carbon pollution carries a cost on our society, as it accelerates climate change.”
Except Canada is not “seeing more and more of these fires.” According to the National Forestry Database, which shows year-to-year fluctuations in the number of fires, Canada on the whole has been seeing less and less of these fires. In the 1990s, Canada had years when 10,000 fires raged; more recently, the numbers have often been half that, at about 6,000 fires per year, with just 4,000 fires in 2020….