NDP leader Carla Beck and Cumberland MLA Jordan McPhail spoke in Prince Albert Wednesday morning. (Teena Monteleone/paNOW)
Government Response

From ashes to action: NDP and SPSA address plans to rebuild fire-stricken communities

Jul 2, 2025 | 3:48 PM

As the province deals with another uptick in wildfires, the opposition is calling on the government to adopt a coordinated plan to rebuild communities that have already been destroyed.

In Prince Albert Wednesday, NDP leader Carla Beck and NDP MLA for Cumberland, Jordan McPhail, presented what they called five critical pieces to ensure that happens:

  1. Urgently restoring access to healthcare and essential services.
  2. Medium-term housing for people who lost their homes until they can rebuild.
  3. Housing for construction workers tasked with rebuilding isolated communities completely destroyed, like Denare Beach and East Trout Lake.
  4. Proper and fair procedures for demolition and safe disposal of the waste associated with properties destroyed by fire.
  5. Immediate assistance from Crowns to help with fees and costs of rebuilding utility services like power, phone, and internet lines.

“This plan is the bare minimum that needs to happen and frankly should have been in place already, as Jordan said. Undoubtedly, as the rebuilding happens, there will be more needs that will emerge the more issues that will arise,” Beck said.

McPhail added he’s spoken to several northern residents who still haven’t seen any financial support from the government.

“Not a dime. It’s been more than a month since people were forced from their homes. They’ve racked up thousands and thousands of dollars in debt and emptied their family savings accounts.”

They said the government failed to give enough resources to the frontline firefighters and refused to ask for help, despite countless residents raising the alarm, particularly in Denare Beach, which saw the most wildfire devastation.

“They felt like those calls fell on deaf ears until it was too late,” Beck said.

A symbol of resiliency, the Village of Denare Beach recently installed this new sign after the original was destroyed by the Wolf Fire that also incinerated a huge part of the community. (Northern Gateway Museum/Facebook)

One of those residents is Cindy Ouellet, who owns a fishing camp near Denare Beach. She said T & D Amisk Camp was saved, but incurred over $100,00 in lost revenue. She said there was a shortage of manpower and equipment made available by the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency (SPSA) despite repeated requests. Her family ended up procuring its own firefighting equipment.

Adding to her frustration, she claims SPSA staff recently showed up at her property attempting to pick up equipment that didn’t belong to them.

“They clearly have no idea where their equipment is or where it went or what they had or where it didn’t go,” Ouellet said.

The SPSA said 2,129 values have been burnt by wildfires in Saskatchewan so far this season. That includes 299 homes, 125 cabins and 312 vehicles – the bulk of which come from the Denare Beach area.

In response to the NDP’s five-point post-disaster and rebuilding plan, SPSA president and fire commissioner Marlo Pritchard said they’ve already been working with Denare Beach and others who lost their permanent residences to wildfires.

“The recovery aspect of it has always been a part of the SPSA mandate, but the impacts to Denare Beach and others really required a wrap around all government support. So, the Recovery Task Team was a part of SPSA but bringing in experts from a number of different ministries and crowns will really be able to bring greater support to those impacted communities and individuals,” Pritchard said.

The Recovery Task Team’s current focus is supporting debris management, living accommodations and mental health supports. The province said additional recovery supports will be announced in the coming days.

Pritchard added $5.1 million has been transferred to residents or communities impacted by wildfires and he encouraged those affected to register with the Sask Evac App to ensure easy access for the $500 grant promised to evacuees who are 18 years and older.

Residents that are displaced beyond 30 days may be eligible for assistance through Provincial Disaster Assistance Program (PDAP).

An example of the destruction wildfire left behind in Denare Beach. (Cindy Ouellet/Facebook)

Daily Wildfire Activity

There are currently 64 active wildfires burning in the province. It’s a significant jump from last week.

SPSA vice president of operation Steve Roberts said the storms that brought cooler weather, also brought significant lightning. Most of the new fires are on the western half of the province.

Among the new blazes is the Santo fire burning east of Pinehouse. It is currently 20,000 hectares in size. The Muskeg fire, north of Beauval, is relatively small at 8,083 hectares but the daily wildfire bulletin from the SPSA reported weather conditions that included winds gusting to 90 km/h and an upper ridge over the province bringing in hot and dry conditions.

There have been a few evacuations as a result of new fires; a subdivision at Bear Creek Resort, some cabins at Lac La Plonge and about 140 individuals left La Plonge First Nation. They are being supported by Montreal Lake Tribal Council.

Water bombing aircraft from Quebec have been called in to assist the province’s current fleet and the SPSA is still looking at bringing crews in from other parts of Canada.

The Shoe fire remains the largest wildfire in the province having charred more than 554,000 hectares, however, it has not grown in size since June 14.

Year to date, there have been 328 wildfires, which is well above the five-year average of 185.

panews@pattisonmedia.com

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