After several days of thick smoke from northern wildfires affecting major US cities and prompting Donald Trump to threaten Canada with tariffs, officials are now reporting that the situation has flipped, with parts of Canada issuing air quality warnings due to fires burning in the US.
Authorities in British Columbia issued a warning on Saturday evening stating that smoke from US fires, fueled by thousands of lightning strikes in the northeast, is creating hazy conditions as polluted air moves northward.
“Much of this smoke is originating from fires south of the Canada-US border in Washington and Oregon,” said the provincial wildfire service.
The Northwest Interagency Coordination Center reports that there are twenty-two large fires burning across Washington and Oregon. British Columbia currently has air quality alerts for two areas, Kootenay Lake and Cranbrook, which are located along the southeast border with the US.
Even though the US is dealing with its own wildfire problems, Donald Trump and his Republican allies have opted to blame Canada for poor wildfire management and have threatened sanctions against Canadian officials.
In a social media update on Friday, Trump stated that dirty air had “invaded” the US. “[The] cost of this pollution must of necessity be added to the TARIFFS Canada is currently paying,” he wrote. The Trump administration has rolled back numerous climate protections.
Wildfires continue to rage across both countries. According to Canadian government data released on Monday, there were 843 active wildfires burning throughout Canada. Of those, 181 are classified as “out of control”, meaning they are spreading without effective suppression efforts. Additionally, another 532 fires fall into this category but have yet to see any suppression actions taken.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, who sat next to Trump at Sunday’s World Cup final where Trump again suggested imposing tariffs on Canada, deflected criticism by saying: “Fighting climate change is the responsibility of all countries, including the United States,” he told reporters last week.
However, Doug Ford, Ontario’s premier where many fires are occurring, remarked on Friday: “If there’s politicians out there chirping away, well maybe what you should do rather than complain is send support, send help because we have done the exact same thing for our American friends.”
Eleanor Olszewski, Canada’s minister of emergency preparedness stated that Canada has invested C$12bn (£6.36bn) in fire prevention and forest sustainability over five years. “This is a challenge that knows no borders,” she mentioned.
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