Federal government to supply more funds for B.C. wildfire response
KAMLOOPS — The federal government is promising more funding to support residents affected by raging wildfires in British Columbia as some of the thousands of people displaced prepare to return home.
Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale said the government will supply $600 per household evacuated due to wildfires and $300 for their eventual return — funds that will be managed and distributed by the Canadian Red Cross.
“It will be a long haul and the Government of Canada fully intends to stand with the people of British Columbia every step of the way to participate in supporting the effort of getting things recovered and back to a normal life,” he told a news conference in Kamloops on Saturday.
The total amount the government will be supplying is unclear, because Goodale said the number of evacuees is still fluctuating and the wildfire season in the province is only in beginning.