A wildfire team from Nova Scotia gets a debrief on the Shoe fire burning near Little Bear Lake, SK. Crews and equipment from across the continent are assisting in the wildfire fight in Saskatchewan.(Gov't of Nova Scotia/Facebook)

By Nick Nielsen

Critical assistance

Premier Moe responds to criticism for not calling in federal, military help to handle wildfires

Jun 6, 2025 | 4:14 PM

Calls continue for the province to use every available resource in Canada to combat wildfires that are threatening northern communities and have forced mass evacuations.

Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations (FSIN) Chief Bobby Cameron joined Saskatchewan NDP Leader Carla Beck in urging Premier Scott Moe to formally request federal assistance including military, policing, and communications support.

“We cannot afford to let critical assistance go unused,” Cameron said in a press release.

NDP MLA for Cumberland Jordan McPhail and Saskatchewan NDP leader Carla Beck visited an evacuation centre in Prince Albert Friday. (paNow Staff/Nick Nielsen)

After speaking with evacuees in Prince Albert on Friday, Beck said one of the areas federal military assistance could be useful in is running administrative processes between the government, the Red Cross and the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency (SPSA).

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“We need some support. We need to treat this crisis, these fires with the urgency that they deserve right now, and one of those things is to make sure that we are utilizing that and we are asking for all help that’s available,” Beck said.

Beck had previously met with Desnethé—Missinippi—Churchill River MP and Secretary of State Buckley Belanger, who said the Canadian Armed Forces are ready to deploy to northern Saskatchewan within 24 hours of a formal request.

In a CBC interview, Belanger said, “There’s more that we could do, but Saskatchewan has not requested federal help yet. The biggest opportunity we have is bringing in the army. I’ve spoken with Minister McGuinty and he’s assured me that, within twenty-four hours, the army can be deployed and help out on many fronts.”

Manitoba premier Wab Kinew has already requested and received federal military support for wildfires.

Premier Scott Moe says available military and federal help will be used, if needed. (Nigel Maxwell/paNOW)

Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe said it isn’t about not requesting assets from the federal government or the military; it’s about what assets are available and how the province could use them.

“I walk through what assets, for example, Manitoba might be utilizing, and should we need them here, they’d be available as well. It’s just simply we’ve been able to preserve road access, so we haven’t needed a Hercules to move people out of their communities, like they had to unfortunately in a northern Manitoba community,” Moe said.

He said they may consider military help to backfill RCMP in conducting evacuations and ensuring communities remain peaceful.

“In order for that to happen, we’d have to have the call and have them on the ground here ready to go in a moments notice as these evacuations aren’t providing us with a lot of notice,” Moe said.

“With respect to supporting individuals that are evacuated and the flow of information, what we’re attempting to do is provide those two phones numbers – one is the SPSA that will provide you with evacuation and fire information relevant to your community, but also the Red Cross that we have provided a significant investment alongside the federal government and alongside the government of Manitoba as well, so they can support the SPSA efforts and ultimately support the evacuees.”

SPSA president Marlo Pritchard confirmed he is in contact with representatives from Public Safety Canada daily and the Saskatchewan Military Liaison Officer to understand what the resource availability is, should the province need it.

“We’ve heard from the military that they’re stretched. We have the G7 going on.”

Pritchard said the province is utilizing existing firefighting compacts – which are formal agreements between U.S. states and Canadian provinces to share resources and expertise in fighting wildfires. He added municipal fire services from across the province are helping to add an extra layer of defence.

“They’re structurally trained firefighters. That’s what they do. They have brought their equipment to this battle and they’re doing a heck of a job protecting property and lives,” said Pritchard. “We will continue to expand that as the need requires. So, we have a number of trained individuals that we can access right here in the province…going into the Type 3 firefighters…probably before we need to look at the military for firefighting skills…but as the premier said, we will be looking at them and we continue to look at them for other possible supports when we find a gap.”

Saskatchewan last received military support for wildfires in 2015, at the request of then-Premier Brad Wall.

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*With files from Teena Monteleone