Ontario Premier Doug Ford has strongly criticised President Donald Trump’s remarks blaming Canada for wildfire smoke affecting parts of the United States, calling the comments “absolutely unacceptable.” Ford said Ontario remains focused on protecting communities from the devastating fires and stressed that Canada would support the United States in a similar emergency rather than exchange criticism.
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Moreover, Trump blamed what he described as poor Canadian forest management for the smoke drifting across the US and said he planned to add the “incalculable cost” of dealing with the pollution to existing tariffs on Canadian goods. In response, Ford said around 655,000 hectares of forest were burning across Ontario and emphasised that there would be no spending limit when it comes to protecting residents and affected communities.
Meanwhile, Ford argued that removing US tariffs on Canadian softwood lumber would help improve forest management by allowing greater timber harvesting. He said increased access to the US market could help reduce fuel loads in forests while also benefiting both countries through stronger economic cooperation instead of trade disputes.
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Furthermore, Canadian authorities continued emergency operations as the Armed Forces prepared aircraft to evacuate residents from Fort Hope in northwestern Ontario, where some of the most severe fires are burning. Officials said thousands of people had already relocated to safer areas, while overnight 69 new wildfires increased the national total to 955 active fires.
Smoke from the wildfires has spread across the Canada-US border, prompting air quality alerts and health warnings in several American states, including Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland and Virginia. However, Ontario officials said wildfire activity has slowed during the past 24 hours, and more favourable weather conditions are expected in the coming days, offering hope for improved firefighting efforts.