Doug Donaldson and Andrea Barnett: All parties in this election need to show their seriousness about addressing the impact of catastrophic fires on jobs, the economy, the provincial budget, personal health, and the environment

Premier David Eby invoked the image of a firebreak when he called the provincial election last week. It was in reference to defending ourselves against U.S. President Donald Trump’s trade threats.

But given the scope and scale of the wildfire challenge facing B.C., a firebreak isn’t just a trade metaphor. It’s part of a suite of actions needed to protect against the severe ecological and social impacts of catastrophic wildfire — and that is an important issue in this election too.

The 2026 wildfire season destroyed more than 500 structures, including many homes. Highway 1 was closed for almost two months, and more than 20,000 people were displaced. Since 2017, provincial spending on wildfire response has surpassed $5 billion, and evacuation orders or alerts have applied to more than 400,000 people.

Wildfire modelling indicates things will get worse in B.C. before they get better. But we can take action now to mitigate future impacts and rising costs.

At the University of Victoria’s Polis wildfire resilience project, we study wildfire science, governance, legislation, policies, and programs in B.C. We believe wildfire resilience requires a multi-faceted social and ecological approach, as reflected in these five platform commitments that we urge all political parties to adopt:

1. Commit to stable, predictable, yearly funding for the provincial FireSmart program so people and communities can reduce risk to their properties and homes. FireSmart is a proven risk-reduction program that includes building recommendations such as fireproof roofing materials and creating a 1.5-metre outside buffer of fire-resistant materials around a home. FireSmart funding to assist property owners and local governments is set to conclude in 2026.

2. Prioritize support for cooperative community wildfire response groups or community fire brigades by increasing funding for the training and equipment these volunteer groups require. Many people want to stay and defend when wildfire threatens their homes or community, yet this can create a different set of risks and safety concerns. Response groups help mitigate these by providing an avenue for locals to be actively involved as a support to professional B.C. Wildfire Service crews. The program requires volunteers to attain provincial certifications, which improves safety concerns.

3. Promote innovative, low-cost fuel management treatments. Removing fuel from the forest to decrease risk can be enormously expensive ($1,000 to $10,000 per hectare) given the challenge of 37 million hectares (370,000 square kilometres) of forest in B.C. at high or extreme wildfire risk. Innovative approaches include research on where to place firebreaks to maximize landscape level effectiveness.

4. Harness the forest industry’s harvesting power to reduce fuels on the landscape. Industry has a specific role in finding economic uses for removing fuel, as well as agreeing to regulatory changes such as ensuring a logged site is left at a lower level of wildfire risk than before harvesting.

5. Increase the scale of programs for fuel management, including prescribed and cultural fire. A stepwise increase in funding is required to double the current amount at a pace that matches growth in capacity to deliver more hectares of fuel management on the landscape. Support needed includes a dedicated job strategy to address workforce and capacity shortages.

Finally, we know that some wildfire is natural and essential for sustaining valuable ecosystem functions and wildfire resilience. Beneficial fire supports watershed health and ecosystems like wetlands, grasslands, and open forests. Beneficial fire on the landscape is also essential to lessening the impact of future events by reducing accumulated fuels and thereby decreasing catastrophic risk to communities and forests. But people need to feel safe about their homes and properties to be comfortable letting selected fires, or parts of fires, burn.

These platform commitments address the dual ecological and social dimensions of wildfire resilience and need to be in all political party platforms in this election to show seriousness about addressing the impact of catastrophic fires on jobs, the economy, the provincial budget, personal health, and the environment.

Doug Donaldson is a former B.C. forests minister and a senior policy analyst at the Polis wildfire resilience project, centre for global studies, University of Victoria. Andrea Barnett is an analyst and project facilitator for the Polis wildfire resilience project.