The Honourable Doug Ford
Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs & Premier of Ontario
Room 281, 111 Wellesley Street,
Toronto, Ontario, M7A 1A4
21 July 2026
Re: Ontario’s Wildfires Demand Decisive Leadership and a Commitment to Indigenous Communities
Dear Premier Ford,
On 28 July 2021, you were publicly quoted as saying, “I won’t spare a penny” to fight northern wildfires.1 Five years later, as history repeats itself with blazes raging through the north and one of our worst fire seasons on record, you are still saying the same thing.
Unfortunately, your record reveals that these words are as empty today as they were in 2021. Wildland firefighters continue to warn that their budget is too unstable, and current funding is more than $100 million lower than it needs to be – a fact that was highlighted by the Ontario Association of Fire Chiefs earlier this year.2 Our province cannot even consistently maintain its water-bomber pilot and engineer crews given their below-market wages and underfunding.
This is against the backdrop of Ontario’s retreat on fighting climate change since 2018. Provincial measures such as the elimination of emission reduction targets, cutting clean energy incentives, and cancelling renewable energy projects, amongst other things, have made it all but certain that forest fires in Ontario will only become worse in the years to come.
All these shortcomings could be dismissed as poor judgment – regrettable, but forgivable. What cannot be forgiven is failing to stand with Ontarians in their time of need and, unfortunately, your record speaks for itself.
When Namaygoosisagagun First Nation reached out to you for help as wildfires approached their limits, they heard nothing. They fled in tiny boats as an inferno engulfed their community.
When Eabametoong First Nation called out to you for help, there was no action for days until the Canadian Armed Forces stepped in to evacuate them.
When First Nations leaders reached out to you for help over a week, you ignored their calls and then appeared in Thunder Bay for photo ops and press conferences without meeting them.
And now you stand accused by First Nations leadership of making misleading statements about your wildfire response.
Crisis doesn’t build character – it reveals it, and I am alarmed by what your inaction reveals about yours. You were elected on a mandate to Protect Ontario and there can be no greater measure of this than standing with and fighting for Ontarians in their time of greatest need.
This means meeting with Indigenous leaders. It means removing all jurisdictional barriers to emergency assistance. It means full coordination of evacuation, transportation, accommodation, health care and emergency supports. It means adequate resources for First Nations communities fighting wildfires, and it means direct collaboration with their leadership.
Premier Ford: you have always boasted that you return phone calls, but First Nations communities are discovering you won’t return theirs when they need it most. Now is the time to act.
Ontario is in crisis. Every single one of us must ask what can be done within our abilities to help. As Premier of the greatest province in our Confederation, your leadership could be decisive if you choose to exercise it.
I implore you to do so. Now.
Sincerely,
Adil Shamji
HBMSc MPP (Oxon) MD CCFP (EM) FCFP