As wildfires continue to rage across Canada for the second year in a row, six Republican lawmakers chastised the Canadian government for their inability to contain the fires, which have caused air quality issues in the United States.
Lawmakers from Wisconsin and Minnesota, including Rep. Tom Tiffany (R-Wi.) and Rep. Tom Emmer (R-Mn.) who serves as the House Majority Whip demanded accountability from the Canadian government as their constituents face quality of life issues related to forest fires.
“We write to you today on behalf of our constituents who have had to deal with suffocating Canadian wildfire smoke filling the air to begin the summer,” they wrote to Canadian Ambassador Kirsten Hillman.
Wab Kinew, Manitoba’s Premier, shot back at the six US lawmakers in a statement on Thursday, going so far as to call them ‘ambulance chasers’.
“I’ve shaken the hands of American firefighters in northern Manitoba who are helping us out,” said Kinew. (RELATED: Wisconsin GOP Candidate Draws Attention for Controversial Political History)
“I would challenge these ambulance chasers in the U.S. Congress to go and do the same, and to hear how much the American firefighting heroes who are here — how much they love our province.”
Manitoba has continued to face devastating wildfires in to Friday, with over 12,000 people being forced to evacuate from their homes and over two million acres of land burned, more than ten times the average over the last twenty years. (RELATED: Self-Described “Extremist” “Communist” Starts Left-Wing Gun Club in Wisconsin)
American lawmakers have grown increasingly frustrated at what they perceive as poor wildfire management by the Canadian government, which has caused severe air quality issues in states such as Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Michigan.Last month, wildfires in Manitoba and Saskatchewan that were poorly contained resulted in over 37 million Americans being exposed to air quality that is categorized as “Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups” or worse.
