Ottawa, Ontario
The Honourable Bill Blair, President of the King's Privy Council for Canada and Minister of Emergency Preparedness, has approved a Request for Federal Assistance from the Government of British Columbia to support their efforts to combat wildfires.
British Columbia is currently experiencing a challenging wildfire season and has deployed all available provincial and local resources to respond to fires across the province.
In response to this request for assistance, the Honourable Anita Anand, Minister of National Defence, authorized the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) to provide:
- personnel and resources to assist and enable fire fighting;
- airlift resources for mobility and logistical tasks, including the evacuation of isolated communities; and
- planning and coordination support.
- In addition to the CAF deployment, the federal government is also providing the following supports:
- The Canadian Coast Guard is providing:
- Personnel to support the management, operations and administrative activities of BC Wildfire Service's Incident Command Posts
- a maritime staging facility for fire fighting equipment and personnel, and,
- two helicopters to transport firefighters and equipment to remote locations.
- The Canadian Coast Guard will also provide support and assistance to remote coastal communities, in the event that access to those communities becomes restricted.
- Indigenous Services Canada (ISC) provides funding for preparedness, mitigation, response and recovery through the Emergency Management Assistance Program (EMAP) to enhance capacity to address emergency events including wildfire. ISC is working closely with the Province of British Columbia, First Nations' Emergency Services Society of British Columbia and the First Nations Health Authority to ensure First Nations are fully supported to respond to emergency events and evacuations. ISC keeps in close contact with affected First Nations to ensure they are fully supported during emergency events and evacuations.
Transport Canada, Parks Canada, Public Services and Procurement Canada, and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police are standing by to provide assistance to address additional needs under their own mandates, as needed.
The Government Operations Centre is working closely with federal and provincial partners to coordinate the federal assistance in response to the situation in British Columbia.
