What’s the rest of the story of Fort Mac fire?
And now you don’t know the rest of the story.
We have all seen a lot of media stories regarding the singlebiggest natural disaster in Canadian history, the Fort McMurray wildfire. $10 billion in cost and still rising, 80,000 people evacuated, 1,800 homes and other structures destroyed and let’s not forget about the human suffering that is still ongoing. We need to give an immense thank you and credit to all the front-line responders, the citizens of the affected area and the unbelievable generosity of people that helped with donations.
So, what role did the provincial NDP government play in this tragedy? After the wildfire turned into the “Beast,” I think they did an admirable job. But did the government play even a bigger role in why this wildfire turned into the “Beast”? Did the government cut the wildfire budget to $200 million when we spent $500 million last year and why?
Did the government cancel all contracts with water bombers 10 days before the fire? Did the government only renew the contacts on May 2, one day after the fire began and what impact did that have on the ultimate consequences? Did the premier accuse Brian Jean of fearmongering, even after he lost his home in the fire, because he was asking these tough questions?
I still have a lot of questions and it is difficult to get to the truth and the truth matters. People need to be held accountable for these kinds of mistakes. This letter is not about how the government handled this situation. Politicians being politicians, I would expect them to make sure the taxpayers never find out the story behind the story.
Who I hold responsible for this is the mainstream media. If the questions I asked have any truth to them, then the second-biggest story of the year should have been reported by some mainstream media outlet, and would have reported the rest of the story. In a democracy, the mainstream media must play a pivotal role in keeping the public they serve informed and search for the truth behind the headlines.
If you search the internet you can come across all kinds of information, but you should always question the validity of the information. As Paul Harvey said, “Now you know the rest of the story.” Too bad we don’t. I fear the media has their own agenda.
Barrie Orich
Lethbridge