REGINA - The dueling press releases and war of words continued Thursday and Friday over the government's wildfire response.
This time, the NDP MLA for Athabasca Leroy Laliberte issued a statement on the closure of Highway 155, the only remaining artery connecting several Northern communities including La Loche to the rest of the province.
Laliberte said the closure "has cut off thousands of Saskatchewan people from needed supplies, medical care, and more.
"The closure, as a result of fast-moving fires, is temporary at the moment — and I hope that continues to be true; however, we need the immediate release of an emergency plan should it remain closed."
Laliberte's statement went on to once again blast the Sask Party for not responding to the crisis, and again accused Premier Scott Moe of not even acknowledging the fires.
"The Sask. Party continues to be missing in action as we’ve encountered crisis after crisis as a result of wildfires this summer. Premier Scott Moe still hasn’t even acknowledged these fires or offered supports to more than 1,000 people evacuated from their homes, and now thousands more are unable to head south. It’s clear he doesn’t care."
"We will not go away. The Saskatchewan NDP will continue to fight for my constituents around the clock until people in this province get the leadership they deserve."
Premier Moe did in fact respond to questions about the wildfire situation at a media availability earlier on Thursday in Saskatoon. In that availability he pointed to several of the supports the government has provided, including millions in financial support to the Canadian Red Cross and to rebuilding efforts, as well as $500 cheques to evacuees.
Moe assured those who lost their homes in Denare Beach that their voice and concerns "are very much well heard by the broader government of Saskatchewan. And I think you see that in some of the moves, some of the initiatives that have come forward in the last number of weeks and we will continue to be there to support Saskatchewan families, as our fire season is not finished yet."
The province had also announced the opening of a Community Resilience Centre for residents of Denare Beach, to provide supports to residents and business owners in the community as it rebuilds.
At an SPSA update Friday afternoon, Vice President of Operations Steve Roberts said that Highway 155 was not open to public access because of the fire risk, but essential supplies and services are being allowed to go through and vehicles are being piloted through.
On Friday, Laliberte issued a further release demanding the Sask. Party Government immediately seek federal help to fight fires in the North. This has been a recurring theme from the NDP as they have repeatedly called for the province to seek federal help.
The NDP statement said Laliberte's latest call comes following discussions with community leaders and frontline responders who stayed behind to defend communities including Beauval, which is under threat from fire.
“The Sask. Party either doesn’t know how to fight these fires or doesn’t care,” Laliberte said in a news release. “Either way, the people I’ve been talking to for a week now aren’t getting the resources and relief firefighters they need. They’re working around the clock, they’re exhausted and, frankly, they believe the provincial government has abandoned them. The people I’m hearing from are telling me that the federal government might be willing to actually help but they have to wait for a call from the province — so today I’m demanding the call be made before communities are lost.”
When asked about the criticisms from Laliberte on Friday, Roberts did say the SPSA had been in discussion with federal counterparts and Public Safety minister Tim McLeod has sent a letter to his corresponding minister requesting resources — "specifically values protection resources from across the country to augment what we already have."
In addition, he said, they have asked and received permission to use a fire camp from Department of National Defense should we need it. At this time we've been able to support our camps with our own camp resources but that option is available should we require it."
He added the offer of aerial support has not been required, because "all of our evacuations have been able to be facilitated through ground transport in a timely manner.”
