For Immediate Release
June 7, 2024
NDP MHAs for Labrador, Jordan Brown (Labrador West) and Lela Evans (Torngat Mountains) are renewing calls for the return of the Labrador West water bomber as wildfires in Quebec are already putting the flow of goods and people traveling to and from the region at risk. Experts at Environment Canada have described these fires as ‘the dress rehearsal for what kind of summer this is going to be’.
“We got lucky last year,” said Brown. “The Liberal government seems all too happy to roll the dice again by refusing to reinstate the water bomber in Labrador West. It’s puzzling to me that when every indicator across the country is warning us that fires are burning hotter and larger each year, that we have less resources in place now than we did before.”
Evans is backing Brown’s call for the return of the water bomber to Labrador West.
“We can’t rely on luck this year because the conditions are much worst and the season is only starting,” said Evans. “This winter there was significantly less snow cover and with the early spring thaw we are witnessing record dry conditions. I am concerned not only with community safety but also with the massive potential threat to our ecosystems; fire destruction to our animals and vegetation. It is critical that we have the resources to stop fires while they are small, if not Labrador will witness fires like in Alberta that will be uncontrollable. Government has to ensure we get our water bomber back.
“My communities in northern Labrador are especially vulnerable to large fast moving fires because there is no road connection to the rest of the province. Last year fires caused by lightening strikes came very close to several of our communities,” said Evans. “If fires are able to grow in size with our record dry conditions we have few options to get to safety. It’s unacceptable for the government to have less resources available when the risks from forest fires we’re facing increase year over year.”
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For further information, contact Stephanie Curran, Media Relations Manager, NDP Caucus at 330-0328 (o), or stephaniecurran@gov.nl.ca