A developing story from Thunder Bay: At a news conference in Thunder Bay on Saturday, Ontario Premier Doug Ford railed against U.S.
politicians who’ve criticized Canadian wildfire suppression efforts, adding that many in the current administration have "a very short memory." "I find it a shame the administration in the U.S. and Congress people [are] writing these letters and blaming us," Ford declared. "We had the water bombers and everyone going over to California.
It was last year. That's what neighbours do." Across northern Ontario, there are 191 active wildfires as of Saturday afternoon, with 73 still not under control, according to the provincial Aviation, Forest Fire and Urgent situation Services (AFFES) agency. The province's largest fire, Thunder Bay 36, has burned through nearly 319,000 hectares as of Saturday afternoon. The premier indicated 155 fire crews and roughly 80 water bombers are currently working to suppress fires in the region.
So far, roughly10 First Nations across Ontario have been ordered to evacuate,with most receiving assistance from both the federal and provincial governments.
So far, more than a dozen communities have been placed under mandatory evacuation orders, includingNamaygoosisagagun First Nationin northwestern Ontario. Namaygoosisagagun, also known as Collins First Nation, completely burned to the ground earlier this week as the region members were forced to evacuate on their own. The rapid spread of wildfires has also led to criticism within Ontario from opposition members of the legislature and First Nations leaders, who have called for additional financial support for wildfire prevention and suppression. Namaygoosisagagun First Nation "burnt to the ground because of a failure of the province for their monitoring," indicated Anishinabek Nation Grand Council Chief Linda Debassige. "And further to that, the crisis management arm of the province also ought to be held accountable for this disaster." Earlier this week, U.S. President Donald Trump joined Republican politicians blaming Canada for the wildfire smoke drifting into American cities. Four Republican members of the House of Representatives from Michigan sent a letter to Prime Minister Mark Carney, warning him to do more to address the fires. Trump, for his part, threatened to expansion import tariffs on Canadian goods. On Saturday, Ford called the comments being made by members of the Trump administration "absolutely unacceptable." Trump threatens increased tariffs for wildfire smoke that has 'unnecessarily invaded' U.S. "You don’t get on and start threatening and criticizing, because guess what, one day it's going to be your turn and we're going to be down there without hesitation to support our neighbours, which we should be," Ford remarked. He acknowledged the same rhetoric isn't shared by all Americans, adding he’s recently spoken with Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey, who offered added personnel to assist with wildfire prevention. So far, roughly10 First Nations across Ontario have been ordered to evacuate,with most receiving assistance from both the federal and provincial governments. Speaking at the news conference on Friday, Thunder Bay—Superior North MP Patty Hajdu, who is federal minister of jobs and families, praised this collaboration, saying it allows for safer staging of evacuations. "Canada is working very efficiently with Ontario and has been since the beginning of the fire season," Hajdu confirmed. "We'll be there to support Ontario, we’ll be there to work hand in glove with Ontario to make sure that we protect people and we protect our region." Still, despite this collaboration, Debassige highlighted perceived failings on the part of both levels of government to provide resources for Namaygoosisagagun First Nation. "This local residents burned to ash," Debassige stated. "When we made our contacts. to the MNR [Ontario's Ministry of Natural Resources], we were met with 'we didn't know there was a fire there.'" Ford defends Ontario crisis firefighting financial plan as province asks Ottawa to help with evacuations Responding to reporters' questions over provincial efforts to suppress the fire, Mike Harris Jr., Ontario's minister of natural resources, remarked the blaze started near the First Nation and spread quicker than regional crews were able to respond to it. "We did our best, obviously, to come and survey what was going on, but there was so much smoke, it made it almost impossible for our teams to come in and really assess how close the fire was," Harris Jr. "So the area made the determination that they were going to go ahead and self-evacuate." A chance of showers is expected throughout the weekend, which the provincial government says could help limit the spread of existing fires. As of Saturday, many parts of northwestern Ontario remained under orange air quality warnings, including Thunder Bay, Cloud Bay, White River and Armstrong. A restricted fire zone has been implemented for much of the region, which prohibits any open-air burning, including campfires. the regional capital is currentlyserving as a hubfor wildfire evacuees, as community residents have donated food, clothing and essential supplies. However, accommodations within the Lakehead remain scarce, with hotels quickly filling up. CBC confirmed on Saturday an additional urgent response evacuation shelter had opened in the community, at Fort William Gardens. Liam Baker is a journalist for CBC Ottawa. He also reports and produces stories for CBC Windsor, and on Inuit Nunangat for CBC Nunavut. Previously, he's reported for CBC Yukon, CBC Thunder Bay, and CBC Toronto's Enterprise unit. You can reach him at liam.baker@cbc.ca It is a priority for CBC to create products that are accessible to all in Canada including people with visual, hearing, motor and cognitive challenges. Closed Captioning and Described Video is available for many CBC shows offered onCBC Gem..
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📍 Source: CBC News Thunder Bay · By: CBC News Staff · 🗓️ July 21, 2026 · 🏠 ThunderBay.Online
