Three provincial cabinet ministers facing recent calls to resign will address the media Thursday morning at Queen’s Park.
Natural Resources Minister Mike Harris, Minister of Emergency Preparedness and Response, Jill Dunlop and Greg Rickford, Minister of Indigenous Affairs and First Nations Economic Reconciliation, are scheduled to provide an update on the wildland fire situation in northwestern Ontario.
The three have been criticized for their Ministries’ response and for their lack of communication with those directly affected.
First Nation leaders, opposition MPPs, and residents have been vocal about the province’s preparedness for this year’s wildland fire season, the budget for fighting the fires, how evacuations were carried out, and the support provided to evacuees.
The media conference will also be the first time Rickford has spoken publicly about the fires.
Harris and Dunlop travelled with Premier Doug Ford to Thunder Bay earlier in July.
During the visit, they viewed areas that had been burnt over, met with Ministry of Natural Resources firefighters and staff and visited an evacuation centre that was being set up at the Fort William Gardens.
First Nations leaders from the communities evacuated by the wildland fires later expressed disappointment that no attempts were made to meet with them.
