Canada is relying too much on its military to fight wildfires, according to Canada’s emergency management minister.
Commenting Aug. 18 in a virtual press conference, Emergency Management Minister Eleanor Olszewski said that the nation is overusing members of the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) to battle fires, leading to strained budgets and resources.
“This is not their primary responsibility, it’s not their primary duty, and we’ve been incredibly lucky to have the assistance of the armed forces for this wildfire season,” Olszewski said, which was first reported by Blacklock’s Reporter.
“We do need to look at things like resilience, like what else we do in terms of equipment, and how we better manage resources to lessen the load on the Armed Forces.”…