Stay out of the forest. No hiking. Without fishing. No Camping. No mountains in your ATV. These were the messages last summer in the Atlantic of Canada, since the provinces dealt with high temperatures and dry conditions.
But those restrictions caused friction in the region, and throughout Canada, that Eric Kennedy says it shouldn’t be a surprise.
“Fire has always been a politician,” said Kennedy, an associate professor of disaster and emergency management at York University What the devil The host Laura Lynch.
“When we look at the history of fire, there have always been questions whose values are protected, what fires we choose from fighting, which does not [and] How we invest money in fire preparation. “
New Brunswick, New Scotland and Terranova and Labrador found themselves fighting forest fires this summer. In response, New Scotland and New Brunswick banned fires and implemented restrictions on access to Crown Land, with many municipalities doing the same.
But some have described the restrictions a violation of the Charter of Canadian rights and freedoms, saying that they prohibit the activity that does not run the risk of starting fires.
Kennedy, who studies how governments respond to emergency situations, says it will be important that the provinces work together to discover how they plan to respond, as the forest fire season becomes longer and more mortal.
Recoil
When New Scotland first announced his restrictions on access to the land of the crown in August, including an augmented fine for those who violated it, the answer was fast, and people questioned how to walk their dog or go to a bicycle ride could turn on a fire.
“One thing is that someone comes out and illuminates a cigarette and throws a butt on the floor. It is another thing that someone wants to make a walk in the forest,” Julissa Stewart of Louisdale, ns, ns, He told CBC News earlier this month.
The New Scotland government has established criticism and controversies around the New Scotland government to keep people out of the forest amid high temperatures and very dry conditions. A man from Cabo Breton is protesting the restrictions when raping them and has now been slapped with an important fine. Kyle Moore has the story.
After the restrictions were established, Army veteran Jeff Evely publicly challenged the rule of the province around walking in the forest, and a $ 28,000 ticket was delivered, that plans to challenge in court.
The foundation of the Canadian Constitution, a Non -profit organization that also challenged the use of the Emergency Law by Ottawa to clear convoy protesters in 2022It also plans to challenge the prohibition of the province of Nueva Scotia.
But Fred Delorey, president of North Star Public Affairs, an agency that specializes in public policy and policy, says that most of the people who have spoken in Nueva Scotia support the restrictions.
“We have to understand that sometimes governments have to make difficult decisions that put people first and the province first. And … for me it was obvious,” said Delorey, who also administered the national conservative campaign in 2021.
Instead, he says that much of the setback comes from groups outside the province that believe that people should be able to travel freely, or those who feel that this is an act of government overreach.
Elevation restrictions
In New Brunswick, industrial work in forested areas was paused, which meant that Woodlot owners could not cut and harvest their wood.
Rick Doucett, president of the New Brunswick owners of Woodlot, said that its members understood and complied with the restrictions of the province, but meant great financial success for many people.
“People who work there, I think they have a great understanding that the province is doing the right thing to close things,” Doucett said Change Host Vander Vander.
“The challenge, of course, for them is that they cannot pay their invoices. And that is where we may have to find a way for people to do the right thing in extreme circumstances, but not to be so financially affected.”
Since then, some restrictions have been raised. NEW BRUNSWICK The land of the crown reopened to the public on Monday, which had been closed since August 10. Many cities throughout the province followed their example, opening access to public parks and trails, although there is still a burn prohibition throughout the province.
New Scotland is also under a burn prohibition, and has restrictions to enter Crown Land, as the teams continue to fight against dangerous fires In Annapolis County.
But even once those restrictions are built, Kennedy says that this will not be the end of the conversation, since forest fires are expected to be an annual challenge.
“We may need to think creatively about how we address these restrictions. Because what is tasty during a weekend in a season might not be something that communities are really willing to live for two weeks, four weeks and six weeks of the season,” Kennedy said.
SHIFT – NBWoodlot restrictions
People who earn the life of Woodlots have not been able to work, due to fire prevention restrictions. We will observe the impact on business and the type of help that people in the industry are looking for.
‘A problem of people’
Kennedy says it can be easy to imagine forest fires as a problem that can be solved by technology, such as better equipment or more fire bombers.
But, he says, both those who are frustrated with restrictions and those who make restrictions should remember the people involved. He also says that no politician is excited to have to restrict people’s movement.
“Fire is fundamentally a problem of people. It is a problem of values. It is the question of what we care about, how we prioritize it and how we choose to find different creative solutions together,” Kennedy said.
Kennedy says that it is also important that governments be transparent about why exactly restrictions are implemented.
“I think it is really important that agencies understand empathic where part of this resistance comes from and work to generate trust and understanding in their communications,” said Kennedy.
“Just tell someone a rule: ‘Here, you can’t do this, you have to trust us on that,’ it will never have a good time.”
This may seem to have staff in the communities, so the news comes from a trusted person and not from a press release. In addition, it can come in the form of education on why restrictions are implemented.
Or, instead of focusing on the rules, Kennedy says we could consider potential ways to make some outdoor activities safer through mitigation efforts.
“Perhaps we can be a little less restrictive with the rules regimes investing in some of the infrastructure and attending some of the environments so that they create safe places for fires or fishing.”
