Canadian insurers paid out billions due to catastrophic events in the last few years, and Alberta was responsible for almost half of that payout, said the province’s Environment Minister Shannon Phillips, speaking in the legislature last week discussing the prospect of forest fires this summer.
“The Insurance Bureau of Canada reported that insurers paid out $3.5 billion in 2013 due to record-breaking climate events, $1.8 billion in Alberta … so we are taking action.”
The MLA for Lethbridge-West told the Legislative Assembly that “Alberta is on the front lines of severe and catastrophic weather that is only getting worse because of climate change, which is real.”
The pronouncement came in the midst of a heated exchange on the subject of the budget allotted to the province’s firefighters, with Leader of the Opposition Widrose Party, Brian Jean , saying the NDP incumbents were “playing chicken with Mother Nature.
“Despite the very dry winter and the early wildfire season, this government chose to make things worse by gutting the budget for fighting fires and limiting contracts of those who do fight fires.”
Jean then posited that the cuts in funding, coupled with with shorter contracts, means “air tankers and other firefighting contractors are leaving the province and won’t be here when we need them, and we will.”
“This foolish policy will leave our forests, energy infrastructure, towns and the very lives of Albertans at risk.”
