Last May, when Jenny Saulnier was home alone with her dog in Nova Scotia while her son and husband were at hockey, she scrolled through social media and saw there was a house fire some nine kilometres from her home, and was assured she would be fine.
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She and a group of firefighters and Indigenous Peoples are demanding the federal government better support Canada香蕉视频直播檚 wildfire fighters, warning that without action, more of them will leave the job as fire seasons become longer and more intense.
Harold Larson, a former wildfire fighter and a veteran firefighter from Vancouver, said working to fight wildfires is gruelling, yet there is little reward to entice people to return year after year.
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He said wildfire fighters are treated as seasonal workers, with low pay and a poor work-life balance, and should be treated better.
The group, led by platform My Climate Plan, will be meeting with cabinet ministers and opposition MPs to outline their priorities and present them with a petition signed by some 6,500 people.
Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault, who they are scheduled to meet with, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
They want the federal government to provide wildfire fighters with equipment, more training and better pay 香蕉视频直播� and to stop the climate change that is driving intense fire seasons by switching to clean energy sources.
Wildfires this summer were responsible for the evacuation of tens of thousands of people across the country, including in Jasper, Alta., where fire destroyed parts of the town.
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And for Indigenous communities, who are already disproportionately affected by climate change, the federal government needs to support solutions created by them, and those that have been in place for thousands of years, said Rosalie Yazzie, a Syilx Okanagan Nation member and 2023 fire evacuee. That includes controlled burns to manage forests, and increased collaboration between Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities in emergency response and fire management.
香蕉视频直播淔rom a Syilx perspective, climate change threatens the very lifeblood of our territory. The warming waters endanger our sacred salmon, whose return is vital to our people, while increasingly destructive wildfires devastate the land that sustains all living beings,香蕉视频直播� she said.
香蕉视频直播淭he health of the land, the water, and the salmon are interconnected with our cultural survival, and we must act to protect these relationships for future generations.香蕉视频直播�
