EDMONTON – The Alberta government has learned nothing from last year’s devastating wildfire season and is again failing to recruit and retain wildland firefighters, says the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees (AUPE).
“It seems that Minister of Forestry and Parks Todd Loewen is satisfied that we won’t be fully crewed and trained until mid-May, well into peak fire season,” says James Gault, vice-president of AUPE.
“We heard the same reassurances in 2024, but we later learned that crews weren’t ready when we needed them. That’s the same story we heard today,” says Gault.
Alberta continues to lose experienced firefighters to other jurisdictions that offer better pay, longer contracts and better protection from cancer, which is a real threat to firefighter health.
“Ontario offered a $10,000 signing bonus because it recognizes the need to be ready for increasingly frequent and intense fires caused by global warming,” says Gault.
“Minister Loewen is focused on hiring a majority of students for one or two years and letting them move on to other jurisdictions. He sees no need to do anything to keep experienced firefighters, despite the devastation we have seen to our communities, including Jasper and Fort McMurray.”
Alberta needs more boots on the ground to fight fires, but spending allocated in the budget is focused on equipment, not crews.
“We need to be ready, but we see no plan to improve our ability to recruit and retain firefighters in the numbers we need and with the experience that we need. Alberta will continue to do what it has always done – and will continue to lose out to other jurisdictions,” says Gault.
“Alberta is gambling on a quiet fire season. If the government is wrong, Albertans will pay the price.”
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AUPE VP James Gault is available for comment.
To arrange an interview, contact Terry Inigo-Jones, Communications Officer, at t.inigo-jones@aupe.org or 780-863-7850.