BC’s Opposition Spokesperson for Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations John Rustad has been blasting the province’s response to the wildfire crisis.
The Liberal MLA for Nechako Lakes says he spent the weekend visiting ranchers that have lost valuable infrastructure, feed and livestock.
“Clearly to me, and to others, there seems to be a lack of leadership at the political level. No one has been contacting [ranchers]. This is the first time in BC’s history that we’ve has a significant fire event and the forests minister has not been the lead person in responding,” says Rustad.
“This is a significant economic impact and they need to have a clear plan and let people know what that plan is going to be,” says Rustad.
He says there also needs to be more compensation for ranchers that have lost infrastructure from controlled burns that went wrong. He says it’s also not clear if the $6 million earmarked for replacing fencing will be available for private land.