Sask. government votes down NDP motion for public inquiry into wildfire response

Sask. voted down an NDP motion for a public inquiry into how the government handled this year’s wildfire season. Wayne Mantyka explains.

A group of Denare Beach residents spent two days at Saskatchewan’s legislative building looking for answers into how a wildfire got out of hand this past summer and destroyed their community.

“We came here yesterday and we all had a meeting with Scott Moe and I thought it actually went pretty good, considering he, like, stopped everything after and he apologized,” Denare Beach resident Rhonda Wereick explained.

Now, the government has voted down an NDP motion for a public inquiry into how forest fires were handled.

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It’s not what Denare Beach residents were expecting.

“If they really did everything they could to help us in the north, why wouldn’t you want a public inquiry?” Tasha Young, another Denare Beach resident, asked. “Why wouldn’t you want to prove us wrong?”

The government has pledged to help with rebuilding the community. The NDP Opposition wanted accountability.

“The premier says one thing and does another, says that he wants to be accountable and then blocks a public inquiry to give the people the answers that they deserve. It’s unacceptable,” NDP MLA Jordan McPhail told reporters.

In place of a public inquiry, the provincial government has hired a private consulting firm to conduct a review of its forest fire response and recovery effort.

The government says it wants to learn and take meaningful action. The findings are expected to be made public before next year’s wildfire season.