Edmonton, July 19, 2025 – The Europe Today: Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has called on the Municipality of Jasper to retract and apologize for a recent report that she says unfairly criticizes her government’s involvement in last summer’s devastating wildfire that ravaged the town. Speaking at a press conference in Edmonton on Friday, Smith described the report as “unfair” and “untrue,” stating that it misrepresents the province’s role in the response effort.
“This report came as a shot out of the blue. It’s unfair, it’s untrue, and I would like them to withdraw it,” said Smith. “I’m very disappointed that this report politicizes what should be viewed as a successful example of unified command.”
Premier Smith also deflected blame to the federal government, arguing that Ottawa failed in its response by not requesting provincial assistance earlier and by neglecting to remove dead trees that fueled the fire.
“This was a federal fire. It took place in a federal park, and it was a federal Parks Canada response,” Smith said. “I would ask for an apology from the city as a result. We want to work collaboratively with our municipal and federal partners, but pointing fingers at others instead of examining their own response would have been a far better outcome.”
The fire, which destroyed nearly a third of the structures in Jasper — located within federally administered Jasper National Park — drew emergency coordination from multiple levels of government, including Parks Canada, the Municipality of Jasper, and provincial agencies such as Alberta Wildfire and the Alberta Emergency Management Agency.
The report in question was commissioned by the Municipality of Jasper and independently authored to support ongoing improvements in emergency response. In a statement, a municipal spokesperson said the review focused solely on Jasper’s role within the unified command structure and did not assess the actions of Parks Canada or the Alberta government.
“The review was independently authored, based on the experiences of frontline staff, and was not intended to assign blame,” the spokesperson said. “We deeply appreciate the support provided by Alberta Wildfire, the Alberta Emergency Management Agency, and all partner agencies throughout the fire response and recovery process.”
However, the report includes pointed feedback from survey respondents, particularly firefighters and incident commanders, who stated that the United Conservative Party government’s actions complicated operations.
“Jurisdictional overlap with the province created political challenges that disrupted the focus of incident commanders,” the report reads, noting that time was diverted from firefighting to managing external inquiries and decisions made outside the jurisdiction.
Premier Smith disputed those claims, emphasizing Alberta’s contributions to the recovery effort, including $181 million in disaster relief, evacuation payments, and other forms of assistance. She also clarified that the province had no role in the initial outbreak or containment of the fire, which was under federal and municipal jurisdiction.
As tensions rise over the interpretation of events surrounding one of Alberta’s most destructive wildfires, it remains to be seen whether the Municipality of Jasper will respond further to the Premier’s demand for an apology and retraction.
