(Amanda Purdy is an investigative legal journalist and former emergency responder. She appears as a special contributor to Crier and can be found on X @LegallyPurdy)

Recently, a significant wildfire in Jasper National Park has ignited debate over who is responsible for firefighting, particularly the roles of Parks Canada and the federal government. While many expect Parks Canada to be on the front lines, their website suggests a greater focus on prevention than active firefighting.

Let’s examine Parks Canada’s Fire Management Program.

From the above, it seems Parks Canada is more about managing wildfires with preventive measures and ecosystem restoration than running into the flames. Sure, they talk about tools like prescribed burns and risk reduction, but their focus is clearly on prevention, not battling out-of-control blazes.

The lack of specific protocols for large wildfires shows that they prioritize prevention over putting out flames, making it a bit unfair to blame them solely for Jasper’s chaos.

While this page is dedicated explicitly to Jasper Park, it highlights the importance of preventing wildfires and maintaining healthy forests; it does not mention any actual firefighting efforts.

In fact, there’s not a word about how they plan to tackle wildfires once they ignite; their focus is on risk reduction and restoration, which is excellent, but what about the firefighting when things really heat up?

The page above outlines Parks Canada’s fire prevention playbook, detailing their power to close areas, ban smoking, and regulate campfires—all aimed at preventing human-caused blazes and keeping visitors safe from their sparks.

The regulations empower park managers to tackle fire prevention and restrict access, but curiously, they aren’t tasked with firefighting wildfires. Instead, the emphasis is on preventing human-caused fires and ensuring visitor safety. A nod to the inevitability of naturally ignited fires—like those from lightning—highlights the limits of our firefighting ambitions.

Parks Canada prioritizes public safety, personnel, infrastructure, and neighboring lands. Each park’s Fire Management Plans outline specific readiness and response guidelines for wildfire situations.

The passage from Jasper Park’s website emphasizes Parks Canada’s commitment to supporting its parks and external agencies like Alberta Wildfire and BC Wildfire. This collaborative approach indicates that Parks Canada is ready to assist these organizations in their firefighting efforts, particularly in areas where wildfire threats extend beyond their jurisdiction.

This brings us back to Jasper Park’s Fire Management Plan.

Assisting in a wildfire is like being a supportive friend who brings snacks while leading wildfire management is deciding which campfire to light—or extinguish.

By providing resources and funding to these external agencies, Parks Canada suggests that Alberta Wildfire and similar organizations are primarily responsible for direct firefighting in places like Jasper. This reinforces the idea that effective wildfire response relies on partnerships between federal and provincial agencies, with Parks Canada playing a supportive and collaborative role.

Alberta often gives its premiers a pass, but perhaps it’s time to hold your premier accountable instead of pointing fingers elsewhere.

Let’s not forget that Albertans love to ignore federal jurisdiction when it suits them (like with the Alberta Sovereignty Act). Yet, they suddenly demand jurisdiction when faced with their colossal failures.

Doesn’t Danielle Smith ever consider ignoring the federal government’s environmental initiatives might not be the best approach? She risks Alberta’s long-term ecological health and economic future by pushing back against necessary measures to combat climate change. Leaders must find common ground rather than draw lines in the sand, especially regarding something as vital as Jasper Park or our planet’s well-being.

Another thing is that Danielle hasn’t approved an aid package for those folks in Jasper, that charming municipality nestled within the province of Alberta, which happens to be inside a national park. That’s three layers of bureaucracy.

If Albertans truly believe the Trudeau Liberals are peddling a fake climate change narrative, you’d think they’d be eager to snuff out the flames themselves. After all, Alberta loves to ignore federal jurisdiction, so why wait for jurisdiction now?

Historically, Alberta has a knack for not asking the feds for permission, but this time, they’ve decided to throw caution to the wind. That’s quite the plot twist.

Also, the idea that aid funding to Ukraine is why we lack fire bombers for the wildfires in Jasper is downright ridiculous. International aid has its budget, separate from the funds for firefighting, which local and federal agencies strictly manage. Blaming foreign aid for our firefighting woes is like blaming a pizza delivery for your empty fridge—it’s just not related.

The claims from the UCP, “The Feds didn’t do their job!”

Ummm Shocker!

Good one… pic.twitter.com/5zaY32DVwP

— Dean Blundell🇨🇦 (@ItsDeanBlundell) July 29, 2024

If there’s any province that should be ready for federal failures, it’s Alberta. After all, they seem to spend all their time dissecting Trudeau and the shortcomings of his Liberal party. So why not take matters into their own hands? Imagine if Danielle Smith asked for resources, didn’t get a reply, or even better, didn’t bother asking the feds for permission to extinguish a fire, saved a bunch of property, saved childhood memories, and then the federal government got all huffy about it. Now, that would make for a perfect conservative talking point.

“While Trudeau Sat Idle, We Took Action – and Jasper Didn’t Go Up in Flames! 🔥”

It practically writes itself.

Final note: Here is the statement from the Prime Minister’s office.

Follow Amanda Purdy on X @LegallyPurdy.