SASKATOON — The Saskatchewan NDP renewed its call for the provincial government to release the independent review report on the 2025 wildfires. If it found failures in the response, those failures must be met with accountability and concrete action from the relevant agencies, NDP says.
Associate Community Safety Shadow Minister Hugh Gordon, representing the Opposition, made the demand at a news conference on Monday, June 1, a day before the first anniversary of the disaster experienced by the residents of Denare Beach.
He said the release of the independent wildfire review has been long overdue, as it was initially scheduled to be completed by the consulting firm MNP in February 2026. The Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency, however, extended the timeframe for the final version of the report to March 31.
Gordon said residents, local leaders and emergency responders have been waiting for months for answers about what happened during last year's wildfire emergency and what lessons have been learned to better protect communities in the future.
Gordon said the timing underscores the importance of understanding whether shortcomings existed in the province's response to last year's disaster, and the Opposition’s call for transparency comes as the Lobstick wildfire was threatening northern communities, forcing evacuations.
He added that the government must publicly explain how it intends to address any recommendations in the review, with Community Safety Minister Michael Weger and Premier Scott Moe needing to inform residents of the actions the government intends to take.
"Without that, it falls to us, and it falls to the communities that have been affected to ensure that the government is held to account. When you're asking the government to critique its own work, you're going to have a really hard time getting them to hold up to their end of the bargain," said Gordon.
He argued that accountability becomes more challenging when governments are responsible for evaluating their own performance, suggesting that residents may question whether the province will fully acknowledge shortcomings or implement reforms if deficiencies are identified.
“The question now is how do we hold the government accountable for what recommendations come in this report? They essentially get to control what comes out and decide how they want to respond to their report. It’s going to be difficult to hold them accountable,” said Gordon.
“But as we saw last year, our team, the official Opposition, and the affected people of these communities, like Denare Beach, have been holding their feet to the fire. We're going to continue to do that this year, and get them to respond effectively and hold them accountable for what happened.”
