Michael Cooper on Wildfire Response in Jasper

Madam Speaker, there is mounting evidence that the environment minister was grossly negligent in his handling of the catastrophic Jasper wildfire, a fire that cost $1 billion, destroyed a third of Jasper and left 40% of town residents homeless. The minister was repeatedly warned that Jasper was a tinderbox, yet, in the face of that, his officials cancelled prescribed burns out of concern for political optics. This is scandalous. When the fire began, the minister obstructed the ability of the Alberta government to participate in the response. Proper infrastructure was not in place, and more than 50 firefighters were turned away as Jasper burned. There was failure after failure under the minister's watch; he has a lot to answer for.