NDP: Time for Ford to take the threat of urban wildfires seriously

QUEEN’S PARK — Shadow Minister for Environment, Conservation, and Parks Peter Tabuns (Toronto—Danforth) is calling on Doug Ford to address the increasing risk of urban wildfires.

MPP Tabuns is introducing the Protecting Ontario from Urban Wildfires Act, 2025; a bill that would require the Conservatives to establish an Urban Wildfires Advisory Committee tasked with guiding risk assessment, prevention, response, and recovery. The Ford government currently has no such measures in place, despite the uptick in devastating fires spreading to urban areas.

“Ontario is not ready for this,” said Tabuns. “We have seen the horrific effects of urban wildfires with alarming frequency in recent years. Cities like Los Angeles, New York, and even London have faced fires spreading to urban settings. Closer to home, it happened in Halifax and St. John just this summer.

“People in these cities paid for a lack of preparedness with their homes, and even their lives. We cannot make the same mistakes in Ontario. The climate crisis isn’t going away in the near future. The Ford government must prepare now — before it’s too late.”

The urgency of the matter is compounded by the Ford government’s inaction on climate change. Ontario’s Auditor General reported in October that the Conservatives would fall well short of their 2030 emissions reduction target.

“Our first job is to stop carbon pollution to stabilize things. The next job is preventing these fires, and where we can’t, making sure we have the resources to fight them. If the Ford government refuses to cut emissions, the least they can do is protect Ontarians from the consequences. We can’t wait until people are fleeing their homes in the middle of the night.”

ADDITIONAL QUOTES:

“This bill requires the Ford government to perform a risk assessment for the province’s cities, and make any necessary policy changes to protect the lives and homes of Ontarians. To do anything less is unconscionable at a time when urban wildfires are becoming a substantial risk for cities, fuelled by the hotter temperatures and higher winds that come with climate change.”

— MPP Jessica Bell (University—Rosedale)

“Some of Toronto’s densest neighbourhoods and critical infrastructure are abutting ravines and forested corridors that can quickly become wildfire pathways in extreme heat. Our new legislation urgently compels the Ontario government to strengthen urban wildfire prevention and emergency preparedness, because the safety and livelihood of millions of residents depend on it. It’s no longer a hypothetical question of if wildfires will take place in cities, but when.”

— MPP Kristyn Wong-Tam (Toronto Centre)

“During the Los Angeles Fires, 180,000 people had to be evacuated to safety. As many as 400 died. We can’t risk putting Ontarians through the same horrors. Now is the time to learn from what we have seen elsewhere, and take action to prepare for the threat of urban wildfires. We won’t be able to say we didn’t know.”

— MPP Alexa Gilmour (Parkdale—High Park)

“On behalf of the wildland firefighters that we represent, we welcome this legislation and look forward to participating in the consultation process that it proposes. Wildfires are becoming more destructive and the season is longer and less predictable than ever. The toll this takes on firefighters and the communities they live and serve in is incalculable. As a province, we need to do better by them, both for their health and safety and for the health and safety of all of our communities.”

— JP Hornick, President, OPSEU/SEFPO

“Hopes and prayers aren’t enough when a hotter world is making wildfires bigger, wilder and more frequent. We need a real plan to protect Ontarians from the climate-fueled unnatural disasters that are already here, and to accelerate the transition off fossil fuels to limit how bad they become in the future.” 

— Keith Stewart, Senior Energy Strategist, Greenpeace Canada

“Ontario cities are almost totally unprepared for urban wildfires; a new and growing reality given the increases in global temperature and the extreme weather conditions, including drought, resulting from climate change. Making our cities safer for today’s seniors and future generations, along with the nature and biodiversity contained in our beautiful urban areas, needs to be a high priority for urgent provincial action. “

— Seniors for Climate Action Now! (SCAN!)

Click here for a video testimonial from John Vaillant, author of Fire Weather: The Making of a Beast