6d ago

Canadian far right repeats Trump-fuelled conspiracy theories on wildfires

www.nationalobserver.com

Trump-aligned congresspeople aren’t spreading wildfire disinformation in a vacuum; American social media giants are enabling a haze of conspiracy theories and misinformation about the wildfires ravaging Canadian forests, and are disguising the fossil fuel industry's role in the crisis, researchers have found.

Link above is to CAAD's (Climate Action Against Disinformation) - Briefing: Canadian Wildfire Disinformation June 2025

18 comments

Canadian far-right is Trump. It’s the same people, the same playbook, the same goals. There’s no difference.
propaganda
elections cheating
a lot more propaganda
fascism
Count on it.
- Definitely same funding sources and playbook. If you can look to the south and say to yourself "Yeah, I want that" I personally think you should leave. This planet would be nice, but I'll settle for this country. We don't want you here.
It is arson. Digging up and burning accelerating amounts of fossil fuels for decades after we all know about anthropogenic climate change due to the greenhouse effect and fighting against any transition of any kind is arson.
"The posts promoted numerous conspiracy theories — asserting the fires were primarily caused by arson..."
Well, according to our own government, more than 2/3 of wildfires ARE started by humans, but not necessarily arson. We are a sloppy lot, and untended campfires, thrown cigarette butts, even sparks from train wheels, and downed power lines are all culprits. But it IS mostly humans, not mother nature doing the most damage.
- 2/3 of wildfires ARE started by humans, but not necessarily arson
  But the distinction is a very important one.
  The conspiracy nut jobs are claiming that the fires are intentionally set for some nefarious purpose, and that is a blatant lie.
  We need to stay vigilant at pushing back against these conspiratorial lies.
  
  Thats true. But SOME of it IS arson, just not the large majority. Its hard to stop the disinformation when there's a kernel of truth.
- And why is it so dry that these fires rage completely out of control?
  
  Also humans! Checkmate! 😀 🤨 🤔 🫢 😞
  
  Yes its a couple of degrees warmer than it used to be. But that's hardly the major story. The fact is that we dont do much active fire management in Canada and we're way behind the curve.
  Its a little known fact that fire is GOOD for promoting regrowth and rejuvenation in forests. In fact there are some species of trees that actually dont open their seeds until they are touched by fire. Lodgepole pine, Jack Pine, and Pitch Pine are notable examples that have serotinous cones sealed with resin, which melts and opens only when exposed to the heat of a fire. Who knew?
  And who knew that indigenous peoples used to regularly start forest fires to rejuvenate the land, cleaning out all the old underbrush and deadfall and making the forest safe for years to come? But along came us settlers and we thought its better to just leave the forest alone. Wrong.
  We actually had a wildfire come within 30 feet of our house two years ago. The efforts of a dedicated group of firefighters saved it, but three of my neighbors lost theirs. The forest looked terrible for a few months. But by the next summer it was already very green and THIS summer it looks amazing. There are already 5 foot tall trees where there was only black ground two years ago. The grass and trees look amazingly green and lush. And there is NO underbrush so the chances of another fire are pretty much zero for at least another 20 years.
  IF the gov had an active forest management plan, with controlled forest burns, after carefully creating fire breaks around nearby populated areas, we wouldn't have wildly out of control fires every year that threaten people's homes and make the air hard to breathe.
  Its not all about "climate change", MOST of the problem is poor management. And careless people.
We need better forest management. Even more so if climate change exists.
- Sounds like you should be out there raking the forest.
  
  That or we get these massive wildfires every couple of years that grow out of control and damage property.
  We dont build dams that completely block water flow because energy build up and leads to disaster, forests arent any different, you've got to allow a clearing mechanism for all energy sources.
- I bet you fully support the government spending to do so?
  
  Why not? If we spend 200 million a year on clearing but save a billion in insurance claims plus the trauma of relocating people during fires and having them lose all their possessions, it seems like a smart move. ps. We spent 12 days at a local hotel along with hundreds of other people during a forest fire two years ago. We were fed and housed on the gov's dime, so I cant imagine what the final bill was but they spent at LEAST $2000 on us alone. Id estimate there were 500 of us in that hotel alone so that's a million dollars. And that was only one of several hotels. Add on the cost of firefighting and the loss of property and it gets VERY costly in a hurry. To say nothing about how traumatizing it was for my three neighbors who lost their houses and livestock to the fire.

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