Ontario premier slams Trump wildfires criticism: ‘Absolutely unacceptable’

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Ontario premier Doug Ford on Saturday blasted the criticism leveled at the Canadian government by the Trump administration and congressional Republicans over its handling of raging wildfires as “totally unacceptable.”

“We’re trying to get through this,” Ford told reporters during a press conference in Thunder Bay, Ontario, calling the rhetoric coming from some in the U.S. “shameful.”

President Trump threatened on Friday to impose additional tariffs on Canada over what he described as the government’s “willful negligence” and refusal to engage in “basic Forest Management,” which he blamed for the plumes of heavy smoke blanketing parts of the Midwest and East Coast.

“We are holding Canada responsible for the fact that they are not properly maintaining their Forests, and Brush therein, and the United States is being unnecessarily invaded by filthy, polluted, and unhealthy air, the quality of which is dangerous, and totally unacceptable!” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post, arguing it was costing the U.S. “billions of dollars.”

The president said he planned to call Prime Minister Mark Carney to “find out what they are going to do” about the hundreds of wildfires raging across Canada.

There were 955 active fires as of 5:30 p.m. EDT on Saturday, according to the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre, with 191 of those fires reported in Ontario.

Ford described current conditions as a “terrible scenario,” noting that there were approximately 655,000 hectares — about 2,528 square miles — burning across the province.

“It’s a massive issue,” he said. “My heart breaks for the people who’ve lost their homes or their camps and their businesses.”

More than 100 million Americans are currently under air quality alerts as smoke from the wildfires, also burning in northern Minnesota, wafts into the U.S., pumping microscopic particles into the atmosphere that can pose serious health risks.

Air pollution concerns have drawn the frustration of Republicans, who have also railed against the Canadian government for allegedly not doing enough to prevent them from starting and spreading.

Ford on Saturday suggested those lawmakers have a “short, short memory,” noting how Canadian hydro-linemen and water bombers assisted in battling wildfires in California, Georgia and South Carolina last year.

“That’s what neighbors do, right?” he said, adding that if roles were reversed, Canadians would “be down there without hesitation.”

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Doug Ford

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