TORONTO – While the fire emergency continues in almost all of Canada, with almost 500 wildfires still active (including all of them, from those out of control to the “observed” ones), the first class action against one of the provincial governments could soon be launched, for “negligence” in protecting the population from fires and “damages”.
The announcement was made by the law firm “Procido LLP”: as explained in an article by Nicole Healey on Global News, the lawyers are evaluating the viability of a legal action against the government of Saskatchewan (led by Premier Scott Moe) which may have failed to protect the population and its property by not intervening urgently or not having sufficient resources to do so. According to the law firm, for instance, only five of the province’s 10 “water bombers” were operational when recent wildfires left a trail of devastation across northern Saskatchewan, burning more than 3.3 million acres of boreal forest, including hunting and gathering lands, infrastructure, cabins, homes and valuable recreational areas.
Also according to “Procido LLP”, a provincial fire base in Narrow Hills Park was destroyed due to inadequate resources and rural municipalities that attempted to issue emergency warnings were unable to do so because no one “had the provincial authority” to do so.
Additionally, the Saskatchewan government issued an evacuation order, mistakenly including the City of Prince Albert, while residents of places like East Trout Lake, which was razed by fire, were told by the Province that they were ‘not in immediate danger,’ even though everyone there knew the fire was approaching.
The law firm also argues that potential negligence could have caused damage in Manitoba, in the Flin Flon area.
“Would the fires have been contained and extinguished faster if First Nations located in Northern Saskatchewan had the authority and resources to undertake firefighting duties?” finally ask the lawyers of the law firm in the “open letter” published on their website https://procido.com where they announce a live online webinar, next Monday, July 7 at 10 am (CST), “to explore the potential for a class action lawsuit against the Government of Saskatchewan for negligence and damages”. The law firm invites anyone who wants to participate, and on the same web page there is the link to connect to the live webinar. Many Northerners, especially among First Nations and Metis communities, have suffered damages and losses and “we want to hear from you”, the lawyers write on the web page.
In the meantime, as we said, fires are raging across much of Canada. According to data from the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre (CIFFC) updated in real time, there are 496 active fires – at the moment we are writing this article – in Canada, divided as follows: 169 out of control, 75 being held, 131 under control, 121 under observation. The most affected provinces are British Columbia and Yukon with 87 fires each, followed by Alberta (73), Northwest Territories (72), Saskatchewan (64), Manitoba (60), Ontario (42), Quebec (2) and New Foundland and Labrador (1), while another 8 fires are in the Parcs Canada areas. Practically only in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island are there no active fires: the rest of Canada is in flames.
Photo: https://procido.com
