Fire season started early this year. Wildfires swept across northern Saskatchewan and Manitoba in May, displacing thousands from mostly indigenous communities. Evacuees flooded south, seeking refuge as far away as Niagara Falls.
Now, the largest fires in Ontario’s history are claiming thousands of hectares and pushing more out of their homes.
This is more than a tragedy for those whose lives are being uprooted. It is a sign of more things to come as extreme weather becomes the norm. The Insurance Bureau of Canada says 2024 was the costliest year for severe weather-related losses in Canadian history, at a price tag of $8.5 billion.
The late June heatwave engulfed parts of Ontario and Quebec to the point where many school classrooms have become unbearable. There is an urgent need to ramp up our efforts to reduce carbon emissions, but the opposite is happening as the business voices grow louder, calling for more oil and gas exports, not less. Their boldness has been inspired by Donald Trump’s withdrawal from the Paris Agreement and slashing environmental safeguards.
In Canada, fossil fuel giants are demanding the end of emissions controls. They have made record profits that helped spark the wave of inflation in recent years, but they refuse to change course. Instead, as oil sands production reaches its highest level, Big Oil is demanding billions of public dollars be spent on oil and gas pipelines and false solutions like carbon capture. They don’t want to use their immense profits to clean up their act.
The government of Canada should move forward with strong regulations to reduce carbon pollution. We need to end all subsidies for fossil fuel corporations and focus on a clean, renewable energy transition.
Six years ago, millions of young people took to the streets for a global climate strike led by Fridays for Future. Their demands for action were captured with the slogan “There is no planet B”. As the fires burn across the country, it’s a warning that holds even more today.
John Cartwright
John Cartwright was elected Chairperson of the Council of Canadians at the Annual Members Meeting held in June 2019. He is the Past President of the Toronto & York Region Labour Council, representing 200,000 union members who work in every sector of the economy.
