Concerns over fire regulations dominated this morning’s session of the Northern Mayors Roundtable in Prince Albert.
Mayors are raising objections about hefty bills they are receiving for fire suppression within municipal limits.
La Loche mayor Georgina Jolibois says her community was recently handed a $100,000 bill for a fire that claimed two homes last year and left an elder homeless.
She says the government needs to realize that northern communities don’t have the funds to pay for bills like that:
“It is a substantial amount of a bill that the Ministry of Environment has issued to the municipality. It is a huge concern. As a municipality, we are operating on a limited, limited, limited budget.”
Meantime, Ile-a-la-Crosse village councillor Jimmy Durocher says he wants more consultation over any future changes to the Wildfire Act.
He says all stakeholders are affected by fire policy, and only seem to hear about changes after they’ve already been implemented:
“They don’t come to our communities and meet with the fishermen, the trappers, the wild rice growers and all of the traditional land users in the north. Those are the people that are affected by this Wildfire Act.”
An official with Saskatchewan Environment says the ministry welcomes consultation.
Dale Phillips also says the billing process is nothing new:
“No, this isn’t. This is in the existing legislation. It’s been mandated by government through previous wildfire legislation — so this isn’t anything new.”
He adds the government is responsible for fires that start outside a community and subsequently enter its borders.
Meantime, the government is moving ahead with its results-based approach to its regulatory framework.
Some of the new regulations being proposed include a requirement for new developments to incorporate “fire smart” principles.
These include the use of low-combustible building materials, managing vegetation around the structure and pruning large trees to prevent crown fires.