CUPE has delivered $100,000 for community relief in Manitoba and Saskatchewan, in response to the devastating wildfires that have been ravaging the Northern Prairie provinces since earlier this spring.
“Families and communities across the Prairie region have been devastated by this year’s wildfires, and thousands of families are in need of support,” said Gina McKay, CUPE’s General Vice-President for the Prairie Region. “Our union is pitching in not just to support our members who are impacted, but their communities as well.”
CUPE’s donations - $50,000 for Manitoba and Saskatchewan respectively - will support wildfire relief work being done by the Canadian Red Cross as well as First Nations and Metis community organizations.
“Union solidarity also means looking out for the communities our members call home,” said CUPE National President Mark Hancock. “But community relief after the fact is no substitute for action by the federal government to avert the worsening of the climate crisis, and to ensure our communities aren’t being put in harm’s way every summer.”
CUPE reiterates its call on the federal government to invest in public services and climate adaptation measures to reduce the risks to communities in the future.
“Our communities can’t keep living this nightmare every year,” said CUPE National Secretary-Treasurer Candace Rennick. “We need to see a proactive plan from the Carney government to help manage these wildfires, which disproportionately impact Indigenous communities.”