BC Liberals Slam NDP for ‘Lacking Leadership on Fire Response’
Prince George, B.C. – Where’s the leadership from the new NDP government when it comes to this year’s wildfire situation?
That’s the question Liberal MLAs are asking in areas affected by the fires. The opposition says businesses and residents are concerned about “the disengaged attitude” from ministers in the Forests, Environment, and Transportation and Infrastructure ministries.
“These devastating wildfires have deeply impacted huge areas of our province and I know how important it is to have access to up-to-the-minute information from our government,” said MLA John Rustad, opposition forests critic.
“I would like to invite NDP Minister Doug Donaldson to take the time to visit all affected areas to see firsthand the people who have been at the centre of these devastating wildfires.”
Rural economy critic and MLA Donna Barnett adds the rural economy has been hammered by the fires and the effects will be felt for months, if not years, to come.
“The Cariboo has been severely impacted and residents feel like they are being ignored by the NDP government. Ranchers have been burned out, people are stressed and they need the Minister to be front and centre responding to this crisis.”
The BC Liberals were also critical that an off-road restriction notice put in place for noon Friday was issued too late.
“Unfortunately, the notice went out just before noon, when many travellers have already left for the weekend,” said Liberal MLA and Environment critic Peter Milobar.
250News contacted the NDP for comment on this story but did not receive a response.
Comments
Rustad, you need to learn the chain of command during a crisis like the fires… the government is not the ones in control..they only supply the cash..
Guess you will pretend to care now that Clark isn’t the leader anymore.
Think he knows what the he minister does, he was the minister before Horgy did his deed
I am guessing he doesn’t…if he thinks a photo op helps anyone.. the ministers rely on people who know what’s going on..or who is supposed to know.. what experience does rustad have on fighting these fires.. he must know it all since he was forestry minister by some opinions here…has he even held a fire extinguisher in the last 20 yrs or been trained on them?
He doesn’t have experience fighting fires, he has experience providing people with the information they require about their situation or referring them to someone who does. Having people line up for hours to catch a bus that doesn’t even leave and they are sent on their way back to who knows where is not “leadership”
Read the actual article instead of the headline and you won’t post idiotic comments
P Val…..are you soo out of touch with reality that you didn`t know that John Rustad was the former Forestry Minister? Or is it just that your judgement and comments are all clouded with shooting off at the hip without substance or fact?
Rustad was the parliamentary secretary to the Minister of Forests but was never the Minister of Forests.
Bzzzt – wrong
ht tp://www.myprincegeorgenow.com/52536/nechako-lakes-mla-takes-minister-forests-portfolio/
My apologies. It was such a brief moment in time it is not listed in his bio.
The incident commander(s) running the show.. they will have their financial officer get the money from the gov and the media relations officer will keep the government and public informed.. rustad should know how it works..but he speaks like he doesn’t..
He doesn’t “run the show” – his job as MLA and minister is to be the liason between the ministry and the people affected.
Rustad was made Minister of Forests around June 23/17. The Liberals were out of office shortly there after, so I think it would be fair to say that Rustad was Minister of Forests in name only. He never actually put in any time on the job. The only reason they made him Minister of Forests is because Thompson was appointed speaker.
Bzzzt – wrong
He was minister until Horgan was sworn in. Rustad was touring the fire areas as minister of forests. That is how he knows what is required of the minister, which he is commenting on here. How long has Donaldson been minister and what is he doing presently? Maybe he is at a Storytellers meeting?
You mean the one with Smoky the Bear? LOL
Yeah while Rustad was whirling around in his hilo his thoughts probably were…thank god its not my problem anymore!!
The new forests minister is too busy playing Mr. Dressup to make any actual decisions. He was on the news the other day dressed up in the red fireman’s garb, the only thing missing was some charcoal smeared on his cheeks:)
Useless as a screen door on a submarine.
Liberals should have had this in place long ago.. Why blame NDP
Because the liberals lost..
Because Rustad is no longer the forest minister he can’t make sure they announce the restriction before people have left for the long weekend.
Also because he is no longer the forest minister he can’t be front and center responding to the crisis.
While he was the forest minister he visited affected areas, now it is a free for all whilst Donaldson does his nails and noone really knows what is going on.
Not sure what they could have had in place a month ago to fix the issues he speaks of.
Liebral party of BC had 16 years to organize an elite fire attack team…upgrade and purchase better aircraft for these situations…quicker response time…better training…more personnel…NOOOOOO but what they did do was cutbacks on budget…manpower…reduce wages!! These disasters have happened far to often under their watch. We need someone who cares about our environment.
Don’t think the ministry owns any aircraft, they hire those out. There are fires every year, that is why they have trained fighters on staff. With all the new liability issues it sucks they can’t hire local when they need extra hands.
How many water bombers can one buy for the price the USA want for people killing F35s ? Seems we have more to fear from forest fires than we have from combatants in foriegn countries .
And the bank would never be robbed if the vault were made of cardboard…
Rustad your a real prize.
Doing his job as opposition
Comments for this article are closed.