FORT ST. JOHN, B.C.  — The B.C. Ministry of Forests is encouraged that the Government of Canada has taken a huge step to amp up aerial firefighting capacity. Anthony Housefather, parliamentary secretary to Eleanor Olszewski, federal minister of emergency management and community resilience and minister responsible for Prairies economic development, recently highlighted a new multi-million-dollar investment of over $257.6 million for four years to Natural Resources Canada. The funds will be used to lease firefighting aircrafts, which can include waterbombers or other aircrafts to deliver water or fire retardant drops in hard-to-reach areas. …The Ministry of Forests will be hosting a national wildfire symposium in Vancouver on December 5th. This event will bring the government, wildfire experts, key industry and Indigenous partners to discuss the 2025 wildfire season. However, this event is by invite only.