Stewart Malcolm McDonald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stewart Malcolm McDonald on 2016-05-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assistance the Government has offered to the Canadian government to help tackle the wildfire emergency in Alberta.

Mr Hugo Swire

On 7 May, The Prime Minister, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron) wrote to his Canadian counterpart, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, to offer support to the Canadian efforts to tackle the fires. The British Army Training Unit at Suffield, Alberta, has offered assistance to the Alberta Provincial Government. The Foreign Secretary, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond) and I have repeated these messages to the Canadian Foreign Minister and the Canadian High Commissioner in London.

On 5 May the UK Space Agency was notified of a request by Canadian Authorities for imagery of the wildfires. This request was authorised and satellite imagery of the affected areas was released.

The Canadians have so far not requested any further assistance from the British Government, though the messages of support have been warmly received.

We will continue to liaise closely with our Canadian colleagues and stand ready to assist should they request our help.