Government Disputes NDP Claims About Fire Budget

Government Disputes NDP Claims About Fire Budget

Monday, August 09, 2010 at 15:16

The provincial director for forest fire management says a recent budget cut hasn’t dampened his department’s ability to do its job.

The Opposition has criticized the provincial government for reducing the operations budget by $10 million this year.

NDP environment critic Sandra Morin has claimed the resulting rise in fires has caused a 45 per cent drop in business for northern tourism and outfitting.

Steve Roberts says the money was taken out of the Variable Suppresion Program, and insists it hasn’t impacted the way the government deals with wildfires — noting Saskatchewan Environment is using the same number of fire crews as last year.

Roberts isn’t sure about the impact on business, adding he has no way of verifying if the NDP’s numbers are fire-related.