Cariboo-Chilcotin MLA Doerkson pushes government to ‘recognize the lessons learned’ from 2021 fire season

VICTORIA — The devastating 2021 wildfire season was the focus of a private member’s bill raised in the B.C. legislature Monday (Oct. 25).

Cariboo-Chilcotin MLA Lorne Doerkson called on his colleagues to “recognize the lessons learned from this year’s historic wildfire season and implement them to better prepare our response to future wildfires and needed post-wildfire recovery.”

“Like much of British Columbia, my constituency is dependent on the government to address the aftermath of the fires, but we have yet to see much in terms of meaningful action,” said Doerkson.

“British Columbians whose livelihoods hang in the balance need to know that this government is doing far more than just having conversations. They need real action, support and relief.”

The B.C. Wildfire Service has responded to more than 1,600 fires since the beginning of April. To date in 2021, the total number of hectares burned is nearly 870,000 — roughly the size of Puerto Rico.

Shuswap MLA Greg Kyllo joined his B.C. Liberal colleague Doerkson in putting some of the onus for change on the B.C. Wildfire Service.

“What’s happened with the B.C. Wildfire Service — they seem to be moving away from putting fires out and more to trying to manage them,” Kyllo said, pointing to the extreme impact this year’s wildfires had on carbon emissions.

“I think it’s clear that it’s time to modernize the way we approach fighting and recovering from wildfires,” Doerkson noted. “We need to better utilize local and Indigenous knowledge, use all of the resources at our disposal and take further steps to tackle climate change so that the destruction we have seen this year does not become the norm.”

During the one-hour debate, Kamloops-South Thompson MLA Todd Stone, Fraser-Nicola MLA Jackie Tegart and Nechako Lakes MLA John Rustad all rose to speak in support of Doerkson’s motion.