U.S. President Donald Trump is adding his voice to the chorus of Republican politicians who are blaming Canada for wildfire smoke drifting across the border.
Hundreds of active wildfires, most in northwestern Ontario, have triggered air quality warnings for states close to the Great Lakes, stretching from Minnesota to Maryland.
Trump threatened to top up the import tariffs he’s already levied on Canadian goods in response to the smoke that has drifted south of the border.
“We are holding Canada responsible for the fact that they are not properly maintaining their Forests, and Brush therein, and the United States is being unnecessarily invaded by filthy, polluted, and unhealthy air,” the president wrote in a social media post on Friday.
“This is Willful Negligence, and becoming a yearly occurrence, costing the United States Billions of Dollars, which cost of this pollution must of necessity be added to the TARIFFS Canada is currently paying.”
The president said he intends to call Prime Minister Mark Carney to discuss the “totally unacceptable” situation.
After Trump’s comments Friday, Minister of Emergency Management and Community Resilience Eleanor Olszewski released a statement later in the evening, highlighting that “since 2020, Canada has invested $12 billion in forests sustainability and fire prevention.”
“Canada and the United States have a long history of working together to fight wildfires on both sides of the border,” Olszewski’s statement read. “It is a history that both countries benefit from and that we are building on during this challenging wildfire season.”
Just hours before Trump’s post, Ontario Premier Doug Ford shot back at previous comments from American politicians who have blamed Canada for the smoke in recent days.Ford urged the Americans to stop complaining about the wildfire smoke and instead send help — like Canada has done when U.S. states were struck by recent natural disasters.
“If there’s some 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. That’s what you’re supposed to do,” Ford said.
Ford made the remarks Friday in Toronto where he said he believes Americans are good neighbours, but need to start acting that way.
When asked for a comment in response to Trump’s latest post, a spokesperson for Canada’s embassy in Washington said Ambassador Mark Wiseman has “engaged directly with key administration and Hill officials regarding the wildfire emergency in Canada, our efforts to address it, and the impact of wildfire smoke on Canada and the U.S.”
Editor, Ottawa.
