OTTAWA (Reuters) – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Monday meets soldiers helping fight wildfires in Alberta that forced people to evacuate homes in Canada’s main oil-producing province over the weekend.
More than 100 wildfires have raged this month, at one point pushing more than 30,000 people out of their homes while oil and gas producers shut in at least 319,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd), or 3.7% of national production.
By Sunday afternoon, 89 fires were burning across Alberta, with 25 considered to be out of control and more than 19,000 evacuees. That was an increase from 74 fires and about 16,500 evacuees on Friday.
The Canadian army has been helping with firefighting and recovery efforts in the province since Thursday, and more troops are expected to join in the coming days, according to the Alberta government.
Trudeau is scheduled to be in Alberta’s capital Edmonton, where he will meet with Canadian Armed Forces personnel, before leaving for Seoul to meet South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, according to the prime minister’s itinerary.
(Reporting by Ismail Shakil in Ottawa, editing by Deepa Babington)
