Alberta Requests Military Aid From Ottawa to Deal With Wildfires

Alberta wildfire evacuees get supplies and get checked in at the evacuation centre in Edmonton, May 7, 2023. Jason Franson/The Canadian Press

The Alberta government has requested military aid and other additional support from the federal government to deal with the unprecedented numbers of wildfires burning across the province.

In a May 8 letter obtained by The Epoch Times, Alberta’s Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Services Mike asks Ottawa to support the province in its “response and recovery” efforts, including providing military personnel to guard against “looting and disorder” in evacuated communities.

Addressed to federal Emergency Preparedness Minister Bill Blair and Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino, the letter also requests a number of other support measures such as additional firefighting resources, airlift support, water purification, engineering support, and heavy equipment.

The letter follows a call on May 8 between Alberta Premier Danielle Smith and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who is in London, England for the coronation of King Charles. Smith said on Twitter that the call was “productive,” and confirmed the province had formally requested federal government assistance to deal with the “devastating wildfires.”

“Prime Minister Trudeau assured me that Canada would be there to support Alberta in any way possible,” Smith wrote on May 8.

Smoke from an out-of-control fire near Lodgepole, Alta., is shown in this May 4, 2023, handout photo. The Canadian Press/Alberta Wildfire

The federal government has also been asked to maintain assistance being provided by the RCMP to support security and evacuations, as well as to provide funding for RCMP operations within the province related to the wildfire response.

Alberta also requested an exemption from federal requirements, to add additional flight hours for air support underway for firefighting and evacuations.

The province asked the federal government to be “flexible” and provide exceptions for any Albertans receiving employment insurance, rapid enrollment to federal services for anyone evacuated or facing employment loss due to closed businesses as a result of the wildfires.

As of 1:30 p.m. on May 8, Alberta had 98 active wildfires with 28 burning out of control, and 54 contained and expected to be extinguished, according to the provincial dashboard.

The next scheduled Alberta fire update is May 8 at 3 p.m. local time.

‘Working Together’

At a news conference in Ottawa on May 8, Blair said the federal government had been “working closely” with officials in Alberta, through the federal government operations centre and Alberta’s emergency operations centre “to assess their needs, to offer federal resources, and to help them manage a very challenging situation.”

“I have been in many conversations with my counterpart, Minister Mike Ellis, earlier today and throughout the past weekend, and our officials have been fully engaged working to identify the appropriate resources,” said Blair.

“I’ve also had a number of conversations today with the Canadian Red Cross about establishing a donation matching program. We’re all working together to make sure that people impacted by these fires have the resources and the support that they will need in order to get through this.”

Blair said in addition to wildfires in Alberta, the federal government is monitoring flooding in Ontario, Quebec, and Manitoba, as well as fires in Saskatchewan, and the Northwest Territories.

“And of course in British Columbia, which is experiencing both due to high temperatures and fast melting rivers,” added Blair.