The Saskatchewan NDP is again voicing concerns over the Province’s waterbomber fleet during what has been one of the worst wildfire seasons in decades.
On Monday, the NDP raised concern about a newly acquired waterbomber that arrived in the north at the end of May, but was never used.
The government had said they did not have enough time to properly train a pilot for the aircraft before a wildfire encroached the La Ronge area in early June.
On Wednesday, NDP Leader Carla Beck said the opposition had also learned that 4 of the 10 pre-exisiting waterbombers in the province’s fleet have been grounded since last year.
Beck says the public was told these aircraft were expected to remain in service until 2027.
The opposition leader is accusing the government of being ill-prepared for the wildfire season and says they need to be more transparent on these issues.
“No flights, no announcements, no explanations, and no accountability; Scott, Moe, and the Sask party have kept this completely in the dark,” said Beck at a press conference in Saskatoon. “We need a government that’s focused on the future and that includes protecting our communities as best we can.”
Meanwhile, the government says these pre-existing aircraft were facing a series of mechanical and structural issues with many parts unavailable to complete maintenance.
In a statement released shortly after the NDP’s press conference, the government says there is also a shortage of aircraft maintenance engineers, which further hampered the repair efforts.
The government says they were aware of these issues and that was why they brought on extra aircraft from other jurisdictions early in the wildfire season.
The government also says the 4 aircraft purchased last year were meant to replace these grounded planes. One of these newly purchased aircraft was the one that arrived in La Ronge on May 30, but has not yet been used.
During a Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency update on Wednesday afternoon, Marlo Pritchard, with the SPSA, says they felt they had enough resources to affectively battle the wildfires even with the grounded planes. Pritchard says he also felt there was “no secrets” about the grounded aircraft.
He also says one of the four grounded aircraft should be back operational by the end of June, but couldn’t predict when the others would be back to full operation.
Meanwhile, Beck had just returned from a visit to communities damaged by wildfire in the northeast with Cumberland MLA Jordan McPhail.
McPhail described the “devastation” he witnessed in Denare Beach.
“We saw that much of Denare Beach was burned. The damage was absolutely heartbreaking,” he said. “One property in particular, one of the kids’ toys, in the front yard is the exact same thing I have for my daughters, in my front yard, and it hit home when you know that could have been your property as well.”