Alberta’s premier has demanded an apology from the fire-stricken city of Jasper

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith is demanding the fire-stricken town of Jasper apologize and retract a report criticizing her government for its role in last summer’s devastating blaze.

Smith also blames the federal government for failing in the fire response by not asking sooner for provincial help and for not clearing out dead trees that provided fuel for the flames.

The report commissioned by the municipality reflects a survey of firefighters and other front-line staff who battled the blaze, which destroyed a third of buildings in the town located in the federally run Jasper National Park.

The municipality and Parks Canada had jurisdiction in fighting the fire.

Those surveyed said Alberta officials got in the way with requests for information and issues management and they interfered in making decisions outside their jurisdiction.

The Opposition NDP says the response is on brand for Smith and her United Conservative Party government, lashing out and laying blame rather than accepting constructive criticism.

Earlier in the day, Smith took to social media to blast the report and the media.

“It is disheartening to see a report and the media response to that report that so clearly overlooks the substantial, co-ordinated efforts undertaken by the Alberta government during the Jasper wildfire,” Smith wrote Friday on social media.

“Alberta’s swift deployment of crews, emergency funding and operational support played a critical role in protecting lives and infrastructure, and these contributions are either minimized or ignored entirely.”

Smith also called the report and media coverage of it “politically motivated.”

In a joint statement issued Friday morning, Smith along with Mike Ellis, Alberta’s safety minister, Todd Loewen, Alberta’s forestry minister and Jason Nixon, minister of social services, further criticized the report and media reports on those findings.

“The report and the media response not only appear politically motivated, they are also misguided, given their selective framing and failure to acknowledge the tireless work of provincial emergency personnel and leadership,” the statement reads.

“Notably, local officials raised no concerns when provincial wildfire firefighting teams arrived rapidly with personnel and equipment, nor when Alberta stepped up to fill gaps in funding, logistics and accommodations.”

In the statement, provincial government officials maintain that Alberta Wildfire provided crews, equipment and expertise from the first day of the fire response, assisted in evacuation efforts and worked to save structures all night when the fire approached.

The province said Alberta’s emergency management cabinet committee demonstrated strong leadership throughout the crisis. 

“This support reinforced the importance of unified command and interagency co-ordination, something the report itself seems to misunderstand or downplay,” Smith said in the joint statement. 

“Incident reports help us learn to improve and we hope all jurisdictions take a closer look at their own deficiencies rather than blame others.” 

The after-action review of the 2024 Jasper wildfire released Thursday, aimed to examine the effectiveness of the municipality’s response plans and identified gaps and strengths. The report states that its purpose is not to assign blame.

“We’re looking to continuously improve as one municipality,” Bill Given, Jasper’s chief administrative officer, told CBC News late Thursday afternoon.

“We want to ensure that we continue to build out our capacity, and that we take every opportunity to learn from the past and incorporate those learnings to be better prepared in the future — and more effective.”